Abbodanza! (federal, state, meal, support)

[vicky3vicky]

I have a big pot of seasoned tomatoes, stewing on the stove, next to an almost as huge pot of cinnamony apples , being cooked down for canned apple pie filling. Already today I have blanched and frozen over 100 pounds of snap peas, snow peas, green beans, asparagus, broccoli, and cauliflour. I have frozen 30 POUNDS of mangoes, 5 pounds of blueberries, blackberries as big as golf balls, raspberries, about 50 sliced banana, mostly for smoothies, some for breads or pies or salsa.

I will continue with the list in a bit, but first I would like to share how I came about this HUGE bounty, and how I hope something like it is available in your area as well [maybe you could start it]

I just paid [technically donated, but paid] $25 for about $300[ or more] worth of yummy Trader Joes, and Whole Foods foods[mostly, but not all, produce] and while I was receiving so much, I was also helping to keep the food banks in the area full of food for the needy.

Compassion Food Bank of Southern Colorado, provides tons of food to several counties food banks. They receive much of their food from grocery stores.

Unfortunately, [and I do not know if this is a state or federal requirement] there are extremely strict criteria for perishables at the food banks here. Literally, every leaf of lettuce, every mushroom, every strawberry, etc. would have to be inspected and ensured of absolutely no bruising, etc. They can not do that. So, TONS and TONS of perfectly good produce would have been thrown away on a daily basis. now, there is this program for the middle class, or anyone. they do not check i.d. or income, they urge you to buy 2 or 3 or however many loads of food you can fit in your vehicle.

There is NO government involvement, and it works together so fantastically for everyone.
Technically, the group is gifting us with food, that we understand needs to be checked, and we are gifting them money, which keeps the real food banks running. Next time, we will totally clear out the back of our SUV, and buy an extra one to give to someone needy[many people do that]

Back to my list.

There are not the strict requirements for bakery products, but I lso received some of that because the food banks are overstocked on baked goods ussually. So, I got 6 four packs of trader Joes chocolate banana muffins, 4 boxes of Whole Foods cookies [from the bakery, not the shelf] various candies, greek yogurt
6 bottles of green tea Kombucha.

In the fridge there is now an enormous ammount of "lizard food." Arugala, mushrooms, cucumbers, endive frisee, thyme, fennel, carrots, sweet taters, yukon golds[actually, they are in the crawl space storage area] and really, way too much for me to mention.

I hope that this type of program is going on everywhere. If not, I hope you work to implement something similar.



I still have so much that needs to be "put up" sometime between now and tomorrow night. What a wonderful "first-world-problem" to have.

[StealthRabbit]

Just for clarity (sorry I had a hard time following / gleaning the 'short' version..._

Due to state / health Dept regulations of distribution of 'fresh' food items... your local Food Bank has (had) daily surplus of outdated items to discard.

so...
Via $25 donation to Compassion Food Bank of Southern Colorado You 'bought' (Received) ~$300 equivalent 'full price' grocery items (Mostly perishables); some items which originated from Trader Joes and Whole Foods.

This is a good idea.

When I travel, I hit up the produce depts daily (Early morning).
I get stocked up for a few days (usually free / very cheap).

[vicky3vicky]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Just for clarity (sorry I had a hard time following / gleaning the 'short' version..._

Due to state / health Dept regulations of distribution of 'fresh' food items... your local Food Bank has (had) daily surplus of outdated items to discard.

so...
Via $25 donation to Compassion Food Bank of Southern Colorado You 'bought' (Received) ~$300 equivalent 'full price' grocery items (Mostly perishables); some items which originated from Trader Joes and Whole Foods.

This is a good idea.

When I travel, I hit up the produce depts daily (Early morning).
I get stocked up for a few days (usually free / very cheap).

Thanks for making this clear for everyone. When I am excited, I tend to "lose my words" and the order they should come in[ sequencing].

[arwenmark]

Am I missing something? why is this thread in Retirement forum?

[Lodestar]

Enjoyed the post, Vicky. You're my kind of cook. This is so much the way many of us were raised - cooking like this.

Our daughter is a chef and initiated a monthly farm-to-table meal at the café. It's grown by leaps and bounds. Here in MN it's a little more difficult in the winter time but she puts up a lot of the food in the summer with cooperation from the local growers.

She's done a lot in town to promote support of local growers and doing your own food canning/freezing.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by arwenmark

Am I missing something? why is this thread in Retirement forum?

1) Something productive to do do in your 'Free-time'. (Help others / and preserve, distribute, cook, or put-up food)
2) Cost saving measures
3) Activities which you may not have had time to be doing while working.

[Xenah]

I always enjoy your posts Vicky3vicky.

[arwenmark]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

1) Something productive to do do in your 'Free-time'. (Help others / and preserve, distribute, cook, or put-up food)
2) Cost saving measures
3) Activities which you may not have had time to be doing while working.

Okay guess that makes sense, just seemed more like it would be in the food forum.