Our food bank buys big boxes of ramen noodles from an Asian supermarket which sells them much cheaper than the regular supermarkets.
They make them up with fresh veg into packs, alternating some with potatoes or rice (also bought in bulk) and tinned foods.
It's always worth looking for ways to save foods, even from a food bank.
For instance a big bag (3kg) of flour/rice etc wouldn't be given to anyone who can't eat it.
As it's winter here, oats and Weetabix are much in demand for breakfasts and we always get day-old bread which is still soft and if not exactly nutritious, at least filling. That tends to go with peanut butter, jams, honey and margarines.
Other food banks just make up a box of staples but we have found that leads to wastage.
People just throw out what they can't eat. We can't take it back as we are strict about Best Before dates.
Most of our donated stuff is quite near to those and we can only go over them by a very short margin and never over a Sell By date except in very rare circumstances.
So it's a case of wise husbandry in the food bank just as it would be at home.
Kate Garroway-Care at home costs
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