Think Twice Before Donating These Types Of Items To A Food Bank

Despite the presence of community programs like soup kitchens, food banks, and pantries, millions of people still struggle to find suitable food sources every day. There is always a need for assistance to reach more families facing hunger. But don't make the mistake of thinking just anything you have in your pantry will do — there are plenty of logistical challenges that come with running a food bank, and you don't want to make them more challenging by giving something they never need. That's why you should maybe reconsider donating anything that comes in a glass jar.

Glass, as you probably know, is quite fragile. That's not an issue if you're just keeping a jar of pickles in your fridge, but it's very much an issue if you donate that jar to a food bank. Some of the bigger food banks have to process thousands upon thousands of pounds of food, and the process is not necessarily a gentle one. If that glass jar ends up shattering, it could ruin not only whatever that jar contained, but whatever else happened to be within the radius of broken glass surrounding it. Volunteers would have to carefully check everything for glass shards, and if they missed anything, that could cause some serious damage to whoever ate the contaminated food — and by extension, it could harm the reputation of the food bank, meaning many more people may go hungry.

So you've decided to hold onto that glass jar of protein-packed artichoke hearts in your fridge. What else should you avoid sending to food banks? Well, it's important to put yourself in the shoes of someone who might need a food bank. Expired foods and anything that may be going stale would be best thrown out rather than given to a food bank. That's why you should avoid sending expired food to food banks — or, indeed, any other perishable food item, like frozen food or foods that need to be refrigerated. And while you may know without question that your homemade meals or leftovers are perfectly safe (you cooked them, after all), the food bank has no way of knowing that, so it's best to avoid sending them over.

As for junk food, that's a bit more contentious. While the pleasures of cookies and soda are universal, there are some food banks that would rather just provide the necessities. It's very much a case-by-case basis, though, so if you have some plain potato chips (which we ranked from worst to best) burning a hole in your cupboard, it's worth doing your research before giving them away.