This post was suggested by Beth Ann Chiles' goodhearted post:
What do you give adults on gift-giving occasions? Yes, some of us do mean it when we say we don't want anything...People give teachers good-quality soap, handkerchiefs, and silk neckties. They give them by the barrel. They give them by the yard. My husband and I used to send cartons of those items to the Salvation Army. A stage in life we reach sooner or later is the one where we thank people for the thought of yet another designer-scented soap, but we really wish they'd given us cash, if we're not rich, or a donation to our favorite charity, if we are.
Donations to charity in the names of older and richer friends are a lovely way to honor those people, but will they actually be used? A lot of people feel good about donating food to the poor. Even poor people who'd be offended by a jar of peanut butter under the Christmas tree may feel that there's no reason not to take a jar of peanut butter that's been donated to a food bank; they can probably think of another use for the five dollars it would have cost. And yet...poor people have food allergies, too. If anything they have more of them than other people. When people pre-pack boxes or bags of food donations at food banks, they tend to forget that about one out of fifty people won't even want to look at peanut butter. People who have "peanut allergies," more likely sensitivities to the fungicides that are necessary to preserve peanuts, tend to have quite violent reactions. I like peanut butter myself, but I'd be sure to ask before offering it to someone else.
Consider the items on the suggested donation list from the point of view of a family whose house burned down on the second day of a two-week pay cycle.
1. "Shelf-stabilized" milk: The majority of human adults don't digest cow's milk. Period. Cow's milk is tolerated by most infants but is tolerated by fewer people in every year of life. If you've reached your full height and can drink a glass of milk without immediately feeling sorry, you are in a global minority of people who have a minority gene for "lactase persistence." Almost all lactase-persistent adults are White. This has been misunderstood to mean that all White adults are lactase-persistent, Many are not, and some White adults have become very sick while waiting for their doctors to realize that they could be lactose-intolerant just like normal human beings.
I happen to be one of those lactase-persistent freaks: Although neither of my parents tolerated cow's milk even in ice cream when they were my age, I still do. Ice cream, yes, but not a carton of milk like the ones handed out to school children (some of whom are already unable to digest it). On the other hand cheese never woud stay down if I forced myself to swallow any (I loathe the taste of cheese), so I know how the majority of people feel about cow's milk. As a survival food most adults do tolerate yogurt, but then again, yogurt is easier to tolerate because the milk is being partly digested by bacteria, and some people have become ill from exposure to those bacteria.
And although there may be a way, using what appalling chemicals I don't know, to "shelf-stabilize" milk, don't imagine that milk that has reached room temperature is going to be used by any of my generation even if they are lactase-persistent. We all learned at school that if milk is not very cold or very hot, it gives you tuberculosis. And polio.
To avoid food waste, food banks might offer people the option of cow's milk products with the alternative of some other nutrient-rich food that doesn't pretend to be "milk." Almonds are rich in calcium. Turkey is rich in B vitamins.
2. Tuna: Or even mackerel...I like both, but some people can't use either. Offer the alternatives of canned chicken or canned beans.
3. Peanut butter: See above.
Another thought about peanut butter is my standard salt-versus-sugar rant. Preserved foods of vegetable origin are almost always preserved with salt and/or sugar. If it's canned or bottled without either of those, it won't last long enough to be worth packing. Of the two, in savory foods like peanuts and tomatoes, salt is better. "Low-sodium" canned goods seem like the best lowest-common-denominator alternative, but they're not, for smaller food distributors. They taste fresher and more like real food for about a week after canning. Then they start to decompose.
For people who have freezers, frozen vegetables are a better "low-sodium" choice: Frozen foods keep without salt or sugar, and generally taste fresher than canned vegetables in any case. For emergency situations, some people do need to avoid salt and may appreciate tasteless or positively nasty "low-sodium" canned veg, but others do not.
Alternatives to peanut butter include other nuts, peanut-free mixed nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or canned beans or peas. Nuts and seeds will be rejected by some people if they are roasted and salted, by others if they're not.
4. Toothbrushes: Always a good choice. Even people who don't have teeth find uses for toothbrushes. Tooth paste? Most people can use it, but some can't.
5. Cereal: Most humans used to be able to digest wheat. Very few people actually have a gene that tells our bodies not even to try to digest wheat. However, today most people who "go gluten-free" claim to feel better even when they have no physical reaction to wheat gluten itself. Is this because of mass hysteria? No, it's because of the chemicals used to protect wheat in the field and preserve it after harvest. Glyphosate is the worst because it's the most commonly and carelessly used. Other chemicals applied to wheat also make people sick. It's never good to assume, without asking, that anyone can safely eat grain products like cereal these days.
Some people can used specific brands of cereal such as Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, and Cheerios, which contain no wheat...but they may hesitate to try, because these cereals may be contaminated with glyphosate even though they're wheat-free. "Organically grown" unfortunately does not mean glyphosate-free and is not worth paying more for. Some people will still want to substitute non-grain food for cereal.
6. "Low sodium" canned soup: Sometimes I get cans of this, in between their sell-by and use-by dates, for the cats. Cats don't crave salt, have high resistance to bacterial food poisoning, and usually like low-sodium canned soups. But not always.
Before offering canned soup to people, read the labels to get some idea of which people absolutely can't use it. For a start, in emergency situations canned food is eaten by opening the can and eating the contents as they are, which puts meat out of the question. More canned soup than not is thickened with wheat flour, so the gluten- and glyphosate-sensitive can't eat it. Most canned soup contains monosodium glutamate, which can make some people very ill. Some canned soup contains cow's milk products, which makes it unfit for consumption by most adults. Offer a choice of flavors or, in the absence of an acceptable flavor, plain canned veg.
7. Spaghetti sauce: Quite tasty on rice, most gluten-sensitive people already know. But again you need to read the labels and offer alternatives. Is it vegan, dairy-free, sugar-free, alcohol-free? Even if it is, some people are allergic to tomatoes! Offer plain vegetables as an alternative!
8. Macaroni and cheese: Urgh ick. Before donating this horrible stuff to food banks you should know that, although it is a "beloved comfort food" for some people, it is not actually food. It's basically denatured ground wheat flavored with the high-saturated-fat, almost-zero-nutrient curds of cow's milk, plus toxic chemicals that produce a bizarre orange color. I've tried repeatedly to interest, if not the cats, at least the possums in macaroni and cheese, or at least in the mice it might attract. No takers. This unnatural stuff does not attract mice. Nor possums. Let that sink in. Animals who regard mouse livers and cat dropping as treats, who can be trained with such unmentionable nastiness as treats, will not eat packaged macaroni and cheese.
There is probably some use for packaged macaroni and cheese, although it doesn't burn or compost very well. Just make sure that only people who want it are ever offered any suggestion that it might be confused with food. Mice like real wheat and they like real cheese. The fact that mice won't touch packaged macaroni and cheese says it all.
9. Shampoo: Most people will use shampoo and, since it's not ingested and is rinsed away in a few minutes, it's unlikely to do much harm. But don't assume that everybody wants shampoo. How many of the people you know are bald?
10. Applesauce: Before glyphosate apples were a healthy food. Only a few people were very sensitive to other chemicals that soaked in through the skins of fruits like apples and pears. But glyphosate-sprayed apples will make some people sick. Applesauce needs rigorous testing for glyphosate before it's offered to humans as food. Many people will eat it, like it, and then be sick if it's contaminated.,
Oranges, when available, are less likely to be contaminated than apples because the peels are thicker.
11. Canned ready-to-serve pasta: This usually contains enough meat grease to interest the animals, but it's not to be confused with a healthy food. It is junk. Might as well throw in a few marshmallows if you're going to donate pasta. The reason why pasta is considered healthier than bread is that people eat pasta with vegetables, while they eat bread with butter. That's all very well when the vegetables are fresh and glyphosate-free. If you want to help people, don't even offer canned pasta as an option. Give them canned vegetables.
12. Toilet paper: This is one item everybody is likely to use...but homeless people have nowhere to store very much of it. One sometimes meets homeless people with single-use wads of t.p. stuffed into every pocket. They know that diarrhea is a probable consequence of eating donated foods, and want to be prepared. But they can't use a whole roll!
13. Canned fruit: It used to be packed in syrup that made it a delicious dessert for those who can eat sugar. Many poor people are diabetic. Does that make "unsweetened" canned fruit the lowest-common-denominator default choice? No, because diabetic patients can't use a whole can of unsweetened fruit either. I've paid for cans of pineapple that was picked green and tasted like some sort of green bark, and my rule now is: If unable to find a ripe whole pineapple, get the kind that's now described as packed "in heavy syrup," which of course is much lighter than the syrup of my youth, and makes pineapple a nice light refreshing dessert. Some people's rule is not to eat a can of pineapple at all--remember, people who don't have kitchens with all the mod. con. usually eat canned food by opening a can and makng a meal of what's inside. Offer the alternative of canned vegetables.
14. Pancake mix needing only water: Homeless people probably aren't going to eat raw pancake dough even if it's made with water. In the 1930s hobos used to cook pancakes over open-air fires. Today many homeless people camp in places where they can't build open-air fires. And of course those white-flour pancake mixes are pure junk calories in any case.
Self-rising cornmeal, not mixed with wheat flour, is more likely to be safe for more people to eat than self-rising wheat flour is, because corn is less likely to contain glyphosate. But pancakes made from self-rising cornmeal are junkfood, too.
Brown and wild rice mixes that "need only water" are a good alternative to pancake mixes for many, but people who don't have kitchens may not be able to cook them, either.
15. 100% fruit juice: Used to be an excellent choice for many people, though somebody Out There is probably allergic to every specific fruit there is. Today, fruit juice often contains enough glyphosate to make people sick.
You never thought you'd live to see the day when soda pop was healthier than real natural orange juice with the good bioflavonoids and zesty peels ground into the mix...well, you have. Not that soda pop is a health food, but at least soda pop does not contain enough contaminated fruit to produce glyphosate reactions. Natural oranges, bananas, and melons are much healthier than either kind of drink but, if you want people to get the benefit of them, be sure to offer access to running water, plates, forks, and sharp knives. People who lack access to running water don't need to walk around covered in fruit juice.
16. "Low sodium" canned vegetables: See above. Veg are probably the best nutritional choice but allergies and contamination raise problems there, too. Remember, there are no "good foods" and "bad foods": there are foods that individuals can and can't eat. Boxes of macaroni and cheese are bad foods for most people and cans of beans are good foods for most people--but don't presume to tell people what they "should" eat. Offer alternatives to everything.
17. "Unsalted mixed" nuts: Unsalted nuts are a very good option for some people. Stock just a few cans for those who have to watch their sodium. But don't stock a lot of them in advance--they go moldy. Also, be aware that, if the purpose of buying mixed nuts is to have an alternative to peanuts, you have to buy the overpriced "deluxe" mixes, or buy specific nuts that may be more affordable. Walnuts, pecans, filberts, and even almonds can be quite good bargains in some places at some times of year. Mixed nuts are still usually mixed with more than half peanuts.
18. Canned beef stew: Cats and dogs nearly always like this. Humans don't. One reason: Highly Sensory Perceptive people know that most canned beef smells like bacteria, even if it's been browned in butter and flour to make that gravy that looks, smells, and feels just like soiled paste. As beef stew warms up it tends to smell more like meat, and some people do like it and even digest it, but don't think of it as food for everyone. Offer alternatives. Canned chili tends to hold up better than canned beef stew, because the spices tend to kill the bacteria. So do canned chicken, turkey, and fish, because they don't support the same kind of bacteria. Canned vegetables are safer than canned meat and fish.
19. Wholegrain pasta: If it's wholegrain and fresh, mice will eat it, and some people may like it. But some of the people (and mice) who like whole wheat pasta will be sick. Offer alternatives. Potato chips and corn chips are junkfood, but they're healthier junkfood for most of us than wheat pasta is, these days.
20. Brown rice: Good for most people who have a way to cook it--but be sure they do. Plain dry brown rice has to come to a full boil and then simmer for about an hour. That's something I, having time, skills, utensils, and a safe metal container in which to burn hard wood, can do on a warm dry day if there's not too much wind. Most people aren't going to do it, and eating dry rice can kill birds.
Offer dry rice or even "instant" rice as options. They are good food for many people, not all. They will not be used by most homeless people.
21. Oatmeal: Instant oatmeal, or oldfashioned oats that have soaked overnight, would be a good survival food for many people if they weren't sprayed with glyphosate. They probably were, these days. Until you know for sure that oatmeal is glyphosate-free, it has to be considered toxic.
Uncontaminated oatmeal is, however, easy to store and carry and mix to a paste or cook to a pancake, if a person is willing to eat it. I don't think it tastes all that bad, myself. Some say you have to have at least one Scottish ancestor to think oatmeal is edible.
22. Canned beans: Just might be the best lowest-common-denominator food there is, but some people will not eat them. Offer alternatives. All beans are not created equal, nor are they equally treated. Pinto bean growers' Glyphosate Awareness seems generally to have been raised. Garbanzos, which offer more of some nutrients, are usually raised as a cover crop for wheat in glyphosate-saturated soil, and are usually toxic these days.
23. Canola or olive oil: First determine that they have kitchens. If they do they may use cooking oil, but many people can make a jug of cooking oil last a year.
24 . Laundry soap. You'd think that everybody needs laundry soap, and you'd be right--but the washing machines at the laundromat may not use enough water and time to rinse it out of clothes, so some homeless people won't use laundry soap, either. Their sensitive skins will be covered in soap-free, rotten-smelling fabric until the fabric rots.
25. Granola bars. Most of them do contain some whole grains and nuts, along with the sugar. That feeling of spartan virtue does not come from avoiding sugar but from biting into something hard enough to break all but the healthiest teeth, though; granola bars are dangerous for many adults. And, nuts? Grains? See above. For some people granola bars are a healthy choice, and for some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups would be healthier.
A parting thought...
Many years ago when my mother was shopping for an elder who chewed food slowly and painfully, if at all, she stocked up on oatmeal and canned tomato soup. This elder had had a few strokes, was heavily medicated, and didn't often try to talk. When he did speak, he hadn't had much practice talking without his teeth and he probably wasn't wearing them, so it was hard to work out what he might have been saying.
Nevertheless she heard him say quite clearly, "Old...red...soup."
"What did you say, Sir?"
"Old. Red. Soup," the old man shouted obligingly. "I hate old red soup."
She took it all home (in those days I liked Campbell's tomato soup, and didn't realize it made me sick) and never served him any kind of canned soup again...and he named her executor of his estate.
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