To give or not to give expired food to the homeless

Meh, beggers can't be choosers

CBS Sunday Morning ran a story about expiration dates on food today, but they didn't touch on this subject.

RS4Rings said:   soundtechie said:   

As for street beggars, if you want to help them, no expired food. If you want to shame/harm them, then give them expired food.
Is it even possible to shame a street beggar? And yea I can see not giving expired food to a pantry or shelter but if it is only slightly past date then give it to them

Most pantries have a standing rule, do not give expired food. Here I apply my moral rule-o-thumb: How would you act if everyone was fully informed? If you wanna give expired food to a shelter, ask them if they want the expired food you've got. If they say no, then don't give it to them.

THere's a good chance I'd eat it myself before donating.

It depends on the reason for the expiration date. If the food goes bad, don't give it. If it might be a little less tasty (like the cereal hetting a bit stale, for example), it's probably ok if it's recently expired. I've personnaly used canned food a month or two after the expiration date.

The homeless shelter in DC accepts anything as long as its edible.

bigcat007 said:   THere's a good chance I'd eat it myself before donating.

Word. With the exception of a few products (dairy products, baby formula, ect), expiration dates are really just suggestions for freshness, It's still legal to sell it and fine to eat it. I've bought expired stuff at discount places and it hasn't killed me - in fact, I just bought 99 near dated and expired protein bars off of e.Bay

I have a canned food drive in my ethics classes, and I tell the class, you can spend less than a dollar, but just make sure it is something that you would not be embarrassed to give a guest in your home. This eliminates such things as the rusted can of candied kumquats they find in the back of their mother's pantry. Or the packet of ramen that has been crushed into ramen powder.

Canned food is good indefinitely. The flavor does diminish after a few years, hence the expiration date. I have absolutely no issue eating or donating expired but safe food.

You are also shielded by federal law if you wind up donating something that you didn't know was bad. But canned food is good as long as the can isn't buldged, seriously dented enough to compromise the vessel or rusty.

Charities have to sort through and toss out anything with old dates. I know from a church food drive we did last year that it is time consuming to do this, then haul it to the dumpster.

That said, I went through my pantry last night because there is another food drive. I had several things that are expired by just a few months (cake mixes I got on sale and forgot about) and I wouldn't hesitate to go ahead and use them myself, but can't donate them.

moonbeam said:   
Same with your ragged clothes and stained underwear. You're not "helping," you're creating more work for the people who have to sort through donations and throw out your garbage for you.

I'd probably toss the underwear, but most donation places basically have multiple sorts - they pick out the really good stuff for sale in their stores, and then sell the rest by the pound to recyclers. Recyclers then sort out stuff they can sell, stuff that's decent gets sorted into bales and sold to dealers who sell it to 3rd world countries, and the really crappy stuff gets sold to recyclers who shred it for stuff like animal bedding or industrial rags. So they do get some money even for unwearable stuff, and it gets put to use.

MadAnthony said:   moonbeam said:   
Same with your ragged clothes and stained underwear. You're not "helping," you're creating more work for the people who have to sort through donations and throw out your garbage for you.

I'd probably toss the underwear, but most donation places basically have multiple sorts - they pick out the really good stuff for sale in their stores, and then sell the rest by the pound to recyclers. Recyclers then sort out stuff they can sell, stuff that's decent gets sorted into bales and sold to dealers who sell it to 3rd world countries, and the really crappy stuff gets sold to recyclers who shred it for stuff like animal bedding or industrial rags. So they do get some money even for unwearable stuff, and it gets put to use.

Some charities do that, but certainly not all or even most. I worked in a women's shelter many years ago and we were NOT in the business of making animal bedding or industrial rags or bales of clothing to sell to third world countries. 90% of the crap people donated was completely worthless and ended up going straight into the garbage. People really have cajones when it comes to making "donations." I recall one woman who dropped off a box every time she cleaned out her refrigerator. Instead of throwing out all those open cans and condiments with a tiny bit left in the bottom, like a normal person, she dropped them off at the women's shelter.

Knowing that the homeless people eat from the garbage bins, its immoral to throw the food away.

scrouds said:   I haven't seen any homeless people eating from trash bins. I have seen the schedule posted in the local park. There are 5-7 meal times per day at different shelters, churches and other outreach areas so that the homeless don't starve. I consistently see the homeless people feeding the squirrels in the park, in fact if you smell like piss the squirrels will come right up to you and stand up looking for food. Don't tell me about homeless people searching dumpsters for food, they're looking for scrap so they can sell it .

There are shelters and assistance here but a lot of the homeless do not stay at them. They go in to eat and get showers and clean clothes but they don't want to stay because they don't want to follow the rules of no drugs and no alcohol so they end up sleeping under the bridge.

scrouds said:   I haven't seen any homeless people eating from trash bins. I have seen the schedule posted in the local park. There are 5-7 meal times per day at different shelters, churches and other outreach areas so that the homeless don't starve. I consistently see the homeless people feeding the squirrels in the park, in fact if you smell like piss the squirrels will come right up to you and stand up looking for food. Don't tell me about homeless people searching dumpsters for food, they're looking for scrap so they can sell it .
Go into Boston and people taking food out of restaurants dumpster is pretty common. Even worse is check out Haymarket outdoor produce market. They line up at end of day for spoiled produce from dumpsters

Corganiacs said:   planning to give expired money to salvation armySA is a church, and unlike most charities it's books are shrouded in mystery.

SA is a cult, and unlike most charities its books are shrouded in mystery. - E

RS4Rings said:   I like Oreos but the other day my wife bought 4 packages of leftover Halloween ones that were real cheap, so now I'm forced to eat orange Oreos instead of the Red Christmas ones that are out now. I feel like she is treating me like a Homeless Street beggar giving me expired season food.

Maybe you can apply for some food stamps so you can buy the ones you want.

scrouds said:   RS4Rings said:   I like Oreos but the other day my wife bought 4 packages of leftover Halloween ones that were real cheap, so now I'm forced to eat orange Oreos instead of the Red Christmas ones that are out now. I feel like she is treating me like a Homeless Street beggar giving me expired season food.

Maybe you can apply for some food stamps so you can buy the ones you want.
I'm pretty sure that is what the Prez would we want me to do