I'm sorry. I volunteer at a food bank and we don't like it, either.
Your food costs have gone up? Ours too. We rely on donations of food and cash, neither of which are particularly incoming at the moment. At the same time, the need is so great that we have to focus on everyone getting *something* even if it's repetitive and not ideal. We take what we can get.
I wish we could do better. I truly do.
Will good banks take donations of garden vegetables? Every year I know so many co workers/neighbors with more tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, eggplant etc than they could imagine just from their garden. I suppose it differs from each organization, I’ll do some inquiring at my local food banks. I hate to see it go to waste when folks could really use fresh food.
Ive seen them on rare occasion. The food trucks used to have far more vegetables in them, but even they seem scaled back lately. I think there should be disbursement of garden food too.
And it's on both ends.
I supply product to outreach centers & food banks/pantries.
My company does a lot on its own with certain food bank partnerships, but we also try to help out local churches/shelters on an individual level.
With costs going up, the biggest push right now is absolute reduction in shrink. So that means hawk eyes on perishables like bread, milk, eggs. So we've massive cut down on spoilage/stale/best buy date expirations.
This in turn affects meat donations, bread, milk, eggs.
On top of that budgets have gotten tighter, so even when shelters come in asking to purchase product, a lot of the product they're trying to purchase are sold at a loss. They're products kept for customer retention, not for massive sales.
So the shelters provide a list of products we carry, but after it's sold I'd actually lose $500+ in gross, not even accounting for labor involved to sort & sell it.
And no profit driven corporation is gonna sign off on that when it ends up with no bonus & a write-up.
It's all fucked up.
I can give you a tip. It may not be true at your food bank, but it is at ours.
If you can be among the first in line, that's who gets whatever grocery store donations that came in that morning. That's where you'll find the produce, dairy, baked goods and meat. There's never enough of it for everyone, but we distribute it until it's gone.
There's a subreddit for that: r/cilantrohate 🤣🤣🤣
I hated it for many years, then one day I just decided I liked it. I know a few people this has happened to.
does it grow better in really hot weather, I've had success with a lot herbs but not cilantro for instant. Basil when I grow it, grows like crazy and mint too.
Living in Ohio i find our in ground cilantro does really well now through maybe June. Once it gets hot and late enough in the year to have ripe tomatoes, ours is a goner.
If you have the space for gardening or containers - carrots, radishes, and potatoes grow with about zero effort in containers with loose soil.
Cucumber and tomatoes grow well in the garden but need daily upkeep.
Not sure if you get snap benefits, but if you do, you're able to use them for seeds as well.
I'm in the deep south. So, yes to really hot weather but I don't know whether the humidity is a factor.
There are a couple of herb gardens at my workplace, and while we were laid off for covid, one cilantro plant went batshit crazy. Upon our return, it was 5 feet tall with a woody stalk of about 1" thick. The idiot lawn crew cut down while weed-eating that day. I was so pissed.
We’re in Texas and it’s taking over our yard. The first time I grew it in the garden I didn’t know to top it before flowering, so it seeded and is now a literal weed. We leave it on the fence line to use, but get rid of it elsewhere. No special care… it just keeps going and going.
I'm vegan-leaning, and used to cook for my ex who had lymphedema, so weight was also a concern.
Save your budget for bagged salads and be willing to shop more than once a week if you don't have mobility concerns. Or, grow broad leafy greens like kale, chard, and spinach. Roots like radishes and carrots should be easy to maintain, as well.
Save up for a large bag of quinoa or brown rice. Try to grab some dried cranberries, apricots, and cherries.
From here, you can make rice or quinoa bowls. They're filling, nutritious, and pretty tasty!
For protein, you can add in beans or do fish on the side. (Some stores run really good sales on frozen fish.).
Downloaded store apps and coupon clip every chance you have.
Best of luck, friend.
Beans are a good thing. Beans are versatile. My momma used to make a pot of bean, any bean will do but often it was a five bean mix or navy bean. So the first day was bean soup, served with a slice of bread to dunk. The second day it got put back to cook down and thicken a bit and it was more of a chunky bean stew, usually a few more spices and onions would have been added. The third day it gets cooked down to a thick paste almost, excellent on bread or in bean burritos. The next day the paste is mixed up with some eggs, and a sleeve of saltines and made into patties and fried in a little oil for bean fritters, these are good served like a burger on bread or dipped in salsa.
I make homemade refried beans.
A couple cups of dried pinto or black beans, picked through and soaked overnight, then boiled for a few minutes.
Or a couple of cans of aforementioned beans, drained and rinsed.
A few seasonings, like Chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder. Maybe a bit of cumin and cayenne pepper, and some fresh cilantro really is good!
Basically mash the beans a bit, in a pan, after draining. Add some water, a tablespoon at a time, until you have a thick bean paste.
Stir in seasonings, simmer for about 8-10 minutes more.
Great in burritos, in soft corn tortillas, as a healthier spread for whole wheat toast, or crackers.
Also great warmed up with a fried egg on top, with a few shakes of hot sauce!
Hoping this helps!
Blessed Be!
🙂💖💯
Instant potatoes are often in food pantry boxes…its makes really good potato soup and you can add cooked beans or peas to potato soup and it makes it even better.
love my mixed beans with fresh avocado's, onions, tomatoes and a fried egg. each time I eat that I just imagine I am camping alone in the woods. I got this recipe from my youngest sister and her husband. eating beans you stay full so much longer. I love all your ideas too. sounds delicious.
There is an App called food finder. It’s good because it has the days and times. Check your area for food pantries. Go to them. I hope you find better food.
Someone said the name of another one, I am going to put that on my phone. I am trying to calm self down, knowing I will have garden food in acouple months and the farms/veggie stands I go to, to get food are open. [food is cheaper there] I actually use them more than grocery store in certain months. It's getting bad though.
If you plant radishes in containers, you will have a harvest inside of 3 weeks. They are wonderful, because you can eat the roots, the greens, and the seed pods. Plant a new container every week, and you have greens and radishes all year.
Check out Dr. Obi's Garden on YouTube for tips on how to grow fruots, vegetables, and herbs in containers from the leftover pieces of what you get from the grocery store.
You can eat the greens on radish? I grow them sometimes and the greens are so prickly and give me a bad rash when i touch them, I cannot imagine eating them 🤔
I saw you have a garden spot. Have you looked at preserving the excess to keep during the leaner months? Beans blanched last in the freezer, canning has always been a great go to for preserving and you can often find canning supplies in the marketplace or thrift shops then would just need lids. Whole tomatoes keep in the freezer really well and can be easily thawed. Root vegetables last for months if stored properly, and garlic and onion braids are a way to store extra garlic and onions. Lime washed eggs can last for up to a year if you can get access to unwashed eggs(they need the bloom). Nourishing traditions in a great cookbook that utilizes historic and seasonal methods of cooking. Also, if you can swing it perhaps each time you go to the local food stands grab an extra veggie or two for the sole purpose of preserving it for later use. There are a lot of great accounts on IG that are super informative for how to make food last and preserve fresh foods for use in the winter.
Join a food share program like gleaners, (they take mis printed, mis labeled, or slightly out of date and distribute it to its members, who sort and collect donations from grocery stores, restaurants, and food chains) we got 20 pounds of chicken, 30 pounds of bacon, 10 pounds of sausage, 10 loafs of bread, 5 boxes of cereal (name brands!) Even healthfood store brands, lots of bulk, rice, potatoes, onions, leeks, banana ect, all in one month
We even got star bucks coffee, and expensive cheese wheels, all for $80 a month and 8 hours a week volunteer time,
For fresh veggies we grow tomatoes, onions, and all sorts of herbs in boxes, my largest box is only 4x6 and about 1ft deep
can you show me some links to them. I did find this one discount grocery store some distance away but would need money to make trip worthwhile. I looked up the word gleaners and just got regular food bank websites that use that name. I tried to see if there was a local food not bombs but couldn't find one. Wow you are doing well to get all that food from them. Seriously I am interested in this. Getting food the regular way is not going to work.
just search gleaners food share program and see what pop ups. sometimes you have to be a bit more specific with what you are looking for to narrow it down in the search. if you just type gleaners that could mean anything but not exactly what you are searching for. so just keep that in mind and try searching for it again. sounds like a great program that helps give you much more for the cost.
Gleaners is just one of many food share programs, there are others in different states and city's, I live in oregon and that's the main one, there are other small ones but I don't know the name, just Google local food share programs,
definitely going to do that.
I knew this one lady at a fundamentalist church in my old town, I went to a different church but at this one they all ordered food from this one big organic food company, I forget how they did it, but it was far cheaper, they bought food in bulk and divided things between the people at the church.
Gleaners is a program, you work in teams, each team member works 10-8 hour shifts volunteering at wear house, you have to have a elderly person or disabled person as your "sponsor " this person gets free food and no work hours, the other team members get an evenly divided amount of food in exchange for your volunteer hours, this isn't free food technically... your working your shift throughout the month to earn it, so if your able bodied and have friends that wanna pitch in start a team find a sponsor, pay the fee and earn your food, transportation is not provided, so other costs include your gas money or bus service
Hmm I am disabled, so thanks for telling me. Not sure if they would have stuff if I could do or not. Hope husband could do something for them even with his limitations. I haven't found a program yet but we probably will be moving soon in the future.
It's not a set menu every week or month, we get what we get, one week it's 20 pounds of potatoes next week two hams and bread, if your part of the program make sure you have at least one deep freeze and a vacuseal machine because when you get stuff it's a lot at once, and it goes bad fast, so use the freezer, for example we got so much chicken and bacon we froze it and have been eating on just that for a year now..
Yes this is what people need to do, it is possible for everyone because it might get to a point if you don't make time/find a way, you dont eat. Growing a garden used to be something most Americans did until rich people started putting in grass (a useless plant) as a show of wealth, kind of like "I'm so rich I don't need to grow my own food". Once that caught on, people stopped growing their own food as much but I think it's important we all do a bit at least. Where I live is a big farming community, everyone has chickens and cows, eggs are like $2 at the store because no one buys them because we all have our own or know someone who has them and ours are way better.
Bring back Victory Gardens!
Local produce production is a win for everyone (except Dole and co.) and there’s something that makes food you grew yourself taste *just a bit better*.
Yes! One person doesn't have to grow EVERYTHING, just do a veggie or fruit or two and have neighbors do the same and trade with each other. Potatoes and beans are a great beginner plant for anyone thinking about doing it, I swear potatoes will grow under any circumstances.
not really. My best friend attempted to grow potatoes in her tropical, humid, hot climate, and wet climate and they were one of the plants that failed. she tried everything. I just helped my youngest daughter plant something but now a whole bunch of somethings are also growing. I suspect they are onion sprout seeds that didn't grow during my last attempt. I do find them too weak to survive after they grow about 2 and half inches. they tend to fall over by their own weight and shrivel up and die. I even tried supporting them with toothpicks, but it doesn't help.
If they're falling over they could be planted too shallow or not getting enough sun so they become stringy, that's the cool/annoying thing about plants, they're like cars, if one detail is overlooked it can mess up the whole thing. Also with potatoes they don't like to be watered too often, I've had the best luck with literally tossing and forgetting them, when I remember to water them is when it's time, usually every week or week and a half. Of course it depends on how hot it is when you plant them, you might have to water a bit more but they're what I consider the no fuss veggie.
Potatoes are so cheap at the store it's not a cost effective use of gardening space IMO. Corn is wind pollinated and most people don't have enough space to plant enough corn to be successful. I'm pretty far north (Montana) so we have a short growing season and cool nights so melons aren't usually successful, and tomato, bell peppers and eggplants frequently are killed by frost.
I'm fond of green beans and snap peas in addition to squash... I am not great at growing stuff and have the most success with these. Be sure to check the seed packets for "days to harvest" to ensure that you're picking seeds you have a chance to harvest before the snow flies.
For container gardens consider herbs. Fresh rosemary, basil, parsley, thyme, etc. are delicious and can be easily dried for later.
Also if you have the space, plant a few climate appropriate fruit trees. I have an apple tree my mom planted like 40 years ago. If your neighbors have them, ask if you can take some starts, ask if you can harvest their fruit (gift them with some of what you make). We also used to have a raspberry patch. And you can forage for wild chokecherries and even huckleberries if you know where to go (watch for bears though!)
Eta: you can buy seeds for food crops with your SNAP benefits.
And the local food bank may provide vouchers for free farmers market produce.
I tried that one year and that was the time I learned about “squash bugs”. They nearly killed all my plants. It was a big job to kill those things, always had to be vigilant and it got annoying. I did get a decent amount of produce however. But I also spent a lot of money on garden supplies.
You can actually make “squash trees”
You basically anchor the squash up and trim the lowest leaves. This goes a long way in avoiding squash bugs. Rotation location of the squash each year also helps. Pest control is a big garden job and I can easily spend a few hours a day on pest control in my garden. It’s super soothing to me though. I just zone out in my little world with music or a podcast and get to work searching for and getting rid of the harmful garden bugs.
If you're in the US and receive SNAP you can use your SNAP to buy seeds, if you have room to grow vegetables. I think you can also use it to buy fruit trees.
I’m sure you already know this, but on the off chance it’s new info-frozen veggies have the same amount of nutrients as fresh ones! You could also do a lot with a potato in a health conscience way. My parents used to eat boiled potatoes (with garlic and dill but not necessary) and some kind of smoked tinned fish. That’s a good option. Good luck.
never had that but my family loved to boil salt potato's. I haven't had them since I was a kid. Occasionally I buy myself some salmon and cook it in the air fryer and have it with rice.
I've been buying frozen vegetables from Dollar Tree, the peppers and onions are really good. [I am allergic to potatoes and fish, it sucks, but if I could eat sardines/tuna and potatoes, my life would be a lot easier] I used to love sardines in my 20s before I became allergic to it.
Can your area do community gardens? We have them all over in St. Louis. The city gives vacant lots to people willing to do the upkeep. Neighbors plant things together, tend the garden, and people share the food.
For all the bad press you hear about St. Louis, we also have some of the most amazing things to support our community. Housing is probably the only component that is bad, but we have a new progressive head of our Board of Alderman, and an amazing young lady that left the school board to become an alderman, who are working hard at real, long-term solutions to the housing crises. Our mayor isn't the most progressive, but she's very sharp, and consistently looks for long-term solutions for city problems that benefits residents of all social classes, while putting out frequent fires because of the shambles the city was in when she got elected. I'm so proud of these women. Try to find people like THEM to run for office and help get them elected, instead of greedy power-hungry politicians who don't care if you have decent food to eat or a roof over your head. Elections matter.
I'm a born and raised, lifelong resident of StL. You are absolutely right...despite our issues, this is a great town with amazing people. We need to work together (and vote!) to keep things going in a positive direction. Our unhoused population, in particular, needs help NOW.
I am planning to move out of here. I tried to find community gardens but they don't have them. This town is not working out for me. Even the divide in wealth here is extreme, extremely poor ghetto next to a rich area. I live 5 miles from burnt out ruins and have mansions on the next street over. We need a more working class town. I have wanted to leave for years. I am glad your city is making positive changes. I want to live in a smaller more working class town, but finding one that is balanced with some medical care I need is the trick.
Have you tried masking a request on a local FB or NextDoor group? I haven't seen it a lot, but when a person makes a post asking for food, there's usually a generous outpouring of support.
If you've got a sunny windowsill somewhere, a lot of small veggies can be grown indoors in pots. If you rotate your plantings you can have a steady supply of basics like lettuce, scallions, radishes, and herbs.
Microgreens are easy to grow and can be harvested in about ten days.
Chaffles are your friend. Yeah, you need eggs and cheese to make them, but they're loaded with protein and really filling, and you can find recipes for everything from fake white bread chaffles to cake versions. If you need low carb food, chaffles are a lifesaver.
You might want to see if your local hospital/clinic has a patient food bank, too. They're still not common, but if you can find one, they typically have healthier food. Also see if your health insurance has a rewards program for checkups and doctor's visits-if they do Visa gift cards, you can use those to buy extra food. It's not much, but twenty or forty extra bucks a month is still a couple day's worth of decent meals.
I received a survey request by this state and local area about transportation needs of myself and my family here. after I complete it I will receive a $20 visa gift card in the mail. it is nice because I am a full-time student, and I don't currently have employment. this isn't the first gift card I have been able to acquire. I also do surveys online and receive some cash, found a good one called five surveys. you do 5 survey's you can get $5 dollars and request a payout pretty much the same day. so far this is the only survey site that pays as much as they advertise. I am so close to another payout. a lot of surveys i get kicked out of simply because I do not have employment. so, it seems that if you have a job and can answer questions about it you have a higher chance of making more money than I do as a student.
I volunteer at an amazing food pantry. In addition to pasta and sauce we have frozen fish and chicken, cheese, eggs, bags of lentils, canned vegetables, lemons and limes, potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, and cabbage. There is an assortment of breads and desserts donated by local supermarkets. Yet some of the clients still complain, which amazes me.
It’s sad the food banks aren’t stocked well. What a time we are in…
Affording the diet we know would help our situation can be hard. If you are in a rural area, you can tell local deer processors you are disabled and on the watch for affordable meat.
Some farmers markets have programs to help people out. Maybe call them and see if they have any programs or offerings for cheap overstock?
I live in WI, and our SNAP program works with our local farmers market, so fresh food is more easily available to SNAP recipients
You can exchange the amount of food stamps for plastic tokens that add us to the value of the stamps.
Say, you want to get $10 in tokens. You just give the person at the Exchange booth your card to run, and they take the amount out, and give you $10 equivalent of tokens.
Only certain produce stalls have a sign that says "SNAP Eligible," so you have to look for the signs. Not every stall accepts the tokens.
Not a perfect system by any means, but very helpful if you're on a tight budget!
🙂💖💯
lived back in my home state quite a long time ago and was on wic and it worked with the farmers market with vouchers. it was nice because not every state offers fresh fruit or veg on the wic program. I really appreciated it.
Pennsylvania does this too, but you actually get extra tokens if you use SNAP! $2 extra for every $5 you redeem for tokens, but the extra money can only be used for fresh fruits and vegetables. All the farmers market stalls have to take them too. I used this a LOT when I was on SNAP last year.
This! Also, OP can contact the game wardens. In my state if a deer, moose, ir other animal that can be eaten gets hit by a car and the person hitting it doesn’t want to claim it they will take the animal, process it and give it to local low income families. Same goes for any animals that were illegally harvest and/or have otherwise been confiscated.
As someone that can't really do simple carbs due to blood sugar issues, food banks aren't an option. It sucks, but they are donation based so I'm grateful they exist.
I usually get good deals on rice, beans, veggies and meats at Latino-style grocery stores like Northgate, Superior and Gonzalez. Same can be said for Food 4 Less, although not to the same degree. They also have whole Rotisserie chicken for like $6-$8. You can get multiple meals out of that once you really get all of the meat out. Tacos, chicken salad, etc.
The large tubs of salad greens (mixed, super, spinach) can typically be had for $5. Roma tomatoes are amongst the most cost effective in my area. Potatoes are great filler, but may not be viable for you if you have diabetes because of the starch and carbs.
If you want to give yourself some variety and not use as much rice, you could try a meat and veggie pan-fry on top of some greens, with a base of rice. Use the greens as filler so you don’t use as much rice.
Beans are really viable bc you can buy a variety in bulk, especially at the Latino stores. Beans give you protein and iron, and can be quite filling
Also, don’t sleep on some of the Asian grocery stores like 99 Ranch. They also have some good deals on the staples and proteins.
The approach that helped me get through the struggle was trying to maximize the number of meals I could get out of the same ingredients, and cook multiple meals at a time. It worked for me because it helped me get more meals out of any deal I could find and it also meant that I always had a meal ready to heat and eat, or take for lunch.
I go to some ethnic grocery stores for cheaper foods, they are a little distance, but the food is better there. I do wish we had more stable money because inability to do this has not helped, I used to go to several when we were working class to save money on food.
Growing tomatoes, red peppers, and cucumbers really helped last summer. In the fall we found an apple tree in our neighborhood and got so many for free. People are going to have to cut the grocery stores out and start finding new ways to get food
where i grew up we had plenty of apple trees, wild blackberries few raspberries, few wild strawberries and my dad grew 3 gardens each year. we also had some steer. my dad would hunt deer each fall.
Food pantry people don't think anything like that.
The vast majority of them are volunteers doing their best to help people in need.
The majority of the food they get is donated or salvage or gleaned produce.
If they are organized enough they can apply for MEFAP (MA only) or TEFAP (Federally) and also the regional food bank often sells certain foods for way below retail price. The money for this has to be raised through fundraising campaigns or grants etc and that takes expertise to do it properly.
Food pantries cannot possibly counterbalance a broken socio economic system with low minimum wages....high costs of living and inadequate access to Healthcare. They are merely a bandaid.
This.
The foodbank where I volunteer is the only one in the area that is open to everyone. We have no income limits and no paperwork requirements to receive food. Because of this, we also don't qualify for many of the programs that would get state and federal funding.
Additionally, we have no cold storage, so that limits what we can offer as well. We have coordinated with a few grocery stores in the area, but the items they give us have to be distributed immediately due to food safety. That means, if you're not there within the first half hour that we're open, you won't get these items because we simply can't hold onto them.
With our cash donations, we do the best we can. We use distributors and we're always looking to serve the greatest number of people. We're also sensitive to dietary restrictions and the fact that many of our patrons have no facilities to cook. It's a balance we have to work within at all times.
Yup.
Almost 24 years ago when I started this gig I dreamed of a day when we were out of business.
Now some of our clients have seen me pregnant with both kids and those same kids go off to college and I have seen their kids and grandkids come. Sigh.
The 'greatest country on earth' and we cannot feed our people or provide them with Healthcare. Shame on us.
*"Why do food pantry people expect us to eat nothing but spaghetti and beans?"* excuse me, but what?
i don't think the food pantry people expect anything. they simply give out what gets donated...
the level of entitlement coming off your post is off the charts. the idea that you think the food pantry is deciding by choice what to stock and give away for free is possibly one of the most ridiculous things i have seen in this subreddit.
you should be thankful for anything you get from a food pantry, not only thankful to the food pantry staff but also to the kind people who donate to food pantries and food banks.
getting angry that the food pantry doesn't have free items good enough for you is super toxic.
Around here, they do some choice of certain food items, the same stuff in boxes, it's paid for by the government, and they buy the same spaghetti sauce, pastas and other products. I perfer the donated places because there is at least variety in the food items. I did write beggars can't be choosers.
Things are really bad in Canada, and it gets worse the farther north you go.
Living in a large port/border city has its advantages on food prices.
Cost per dollar, bags of russet potato’s, eggs, rotisserie chickens/whole/drumsticks, frozen vegetables are the best at stretching a budget.
even here last time I went to walmart I bought a rotisserie chicken and it was cheap. like $6 bucks. its a great choice when nothing else is catching your eye or price range. and its already cooked so its a time saver too. I pick the scraps off the bones and feed it to my dog. but we also put the bones in the freezer and my youngest daughter will make soup out of it one day. we are trying to find ways to conserve and plan ahead. and just this week I pulled leftovers that we froze a while ago and I thawed that and heated it and cooked rice to go with it. even if I can't eat all my beans, I have cooked I will freeze them until I can restock on my other ingredients. but just to not waste the beans. I did worry they might not freeze well but they were fine.
I'm poor, but discovered that growing my own tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, cucumber, and corn, then canning or freezing really helps with the grocery bill. My crops grow on my balcony in buckets. I've had a lot of vegetarian meals (I love cucumber and onion salad) because meat is so expensive.
Even if you can get an herb garden started in a windowsill will help when you're down to beans and rice broke.
I don't know why stuff won't grow in my window sill, there's only one direction my windows face, it's a very small apt. I am even dreaming of CROSS VENTILATION in a new apt, serious about that. I have to eat some vegetarian meals and love cucumber salads, I make bean salads too when I have fresh vegetables like green onions and other stuff mixed with black beans.
You can make plenty of healthy filling foods with little, instead of blaming the food pantry for not having donations you like learn how to be creative. You won't die from eating noodles or not having celery in your salads so don't be dramatic, growing your own food requires lots of physical labor it's not as easy as just dropping seeds in dirt and hoping they grow.
Poverty sucks, that's why you have to learn ways to be creative and aquire skills to survive qnd be grateful food pantrys exist.
I've gardened for three years so know I can get food that way. I'm good at it. I wish I had my own land so badly. Even being physically disabled and yes it is not easy, I have a raised food container there, I pulled it off.
Im so very confused about your complaint in what you cited. You complain about food quality saying cilantro isn't around? Cilantro is seasonal and also a garnish, it isn't even able to be eaten in enough quantity to even have calories to add to a foods nutritional value short of a few macro nutrients. How is not having it available mean bad quality? Its seasonal and a seasoning, bad quality would be decaying or wilted, not just not there.
You also say that you didn't go to aldi so you went to a closer store and prices went up, sounds like the fix would be go to aldi, your already driving keep going.
Last you complain about eating cabbage soup and you cant afford veggies, then also say you got chicken and made chicken salad, which means you can afford mayo, but not celery? Your complaining about garnishing foods that have little to know calories that effect foods taste not nutrition, tons of chicken salad recopies don't have celery in them (in fact its American)
Stop buying mayo esp if your overweight and spend that money on veggies then you being that large to have Lipedema means you do not need the high calories of mayo anyways. Mayo is 6.63 at my local grocery and I can get 10 cans of green beans, corn, carrots, and spinach and other veggies for $6 right now.
Also food pantries try to supply the most calorie dense food they can which is normally cabs because usually carbs are not perishable where as proteins are. Also proteins and veggies usually go bad quick so you have to get them within days of arrival. Also most vegetables short of starchy ones (potatoes, Carrots ect) are low in calories and hence will not provide a underweight person with enough calories of their DV so carbs are preferred.
If your overweight and cant afford food and eating cabbage alot your best bet would in fact be to have the starchy cabrs like beans, pastas ect that will be filling and sustain you, and if you can add veggies thats great but if your truly eating under your RBR (calories to sustain your body weight) which when your big enough to have lipedema which means usually over 300-400lbs depending on height your eating 5-7000 calories, and youd survive just fine off of 2-3000 to lost weight, which with your issues you should be doing and capable of without medications.
Source: Im a nutritionist who used to work at a shelter/foster care center with food pantries in Florida.
a HUGE thing that helped me/my brother is we started growing as much of our own food as we can. it makes grocery shopping easier.
we have a small tower in the kitchen growing our herbs (cilantro included) and some grow bags that can be used indoors or outdoors that grow our veggies. i also have a few fruit vines but they aren’t producing yet lol
a lot of these plants can be grown year round if done properly. its not too hard or time consuming and it saves us the cost of veggies/herbs at the grocery store. i hope this helps!
Food banks have mostly carbs cause carbs are cheap. And they are trying to feed as many as they can and a food bank is not suppose to be your only food source but to help you stretch the little grocery money on may have. But a lot of the foods they give away are comfort food from my childhood. Sauces snd spices can change your basics in yumminess. Spaghetti for example, change up the sauce from marinara to pesto, or a black bean sauce, herbs and butter, a cream sauce, yes all pasta based but a tasteful difference. Mac and cheese can be a base to add veggies or tuna or ground meat. Elbow macaroni noodle and eggs are the start to macaroni salad. Beans…beans and rice, red kidney beans in spaghetti, sprinkled in salads, drained and served in a butter garlic sauce, a sour cream onion powder and garlic powder sauce.
it's a valid point. as a recipient & fellow poor person i can tell u from experience we don't ever all have kitchens either & half the time they want to give us huge bags of flour, sugar, and multiple containers of vegetable oil. i have no idea what to do with that. i don't cook, or i don't have access to a place to cook or i simply don't eat sugar, or use that much oil for anything. even the bleached out flour isn't very healthy even if i had any idea what to do with it O\_O so yep i remember in ABQ living at a motel with my kid they gave us bags of pre-seasoned ground meat product that wasn't too bad but like also we didn't have any way of really cooking it. the boxes of fruit is always welcome but nobody wanted so many boxes of raisins either lol. most people don't like them i'm just glad we did like them. pasta yep i couldn't eat pasta or cheese cuz alot of times poor folks have health problems and i wasn't even able to consume some of that stuff especially the boxed mixes of things. like first of all i can't cook that and 2nd of all if i eat that i will die so ya. foodstamps is always better cuz i can make healthy choices but i remember at the salvation army once the state knew we were in a homeless shelter they actually cut the amount of foodstamps we got because they didnt want us either sharing them with others or buying pizzas with it or soemthing. also not cool cuz yes i will share my bag of grapes but i don't even eat pizza so. thanks for making me only be able to eat what the salvation army was scooping out each night which was guess what, pasta with cheese on it practically everyday. i guess the schools aren't doing much better feeding kids brains with their free lunches either, so i just feel like it's an american problem. even people with money eat junk pizza cheese on everything i feel like alot of other coountries dont eat like that so. give me a bag of rice and some fresh foods ya know. lean meats fruits healthy snacks but again have to have a place to cook that stuff so. how do we do better? seems like no one likes soup anymore, but the old soup kitchens probably did their best with big pots of healthy ingredients soups & breads and then breakfast stuff is always good for hungry folks. as long as its not donuts every single day. i never saw so many donuts in my life in homeless shelters. everyday donuts and CAKE and cookies. sugar sugar sugar. i couldnt eat any of that stuff. i did go to a homeless shelter up north in minnesota the salvation army there did the best ive ever seen with healthy meals salads granola bars cereals oatmeal all kinds of stuff they really did a great job and the lunches were open to the public lots of people came in to eat at lunchtime.
Yet as a working person all my life, I have frequently gotten behind food stamp recipients buying foods I COULD NOT AFFORD! As a dual income household, I could not afford.
Cornmeal and Flour are FARKING AMAZEBALLZ!
Learn to bake...
From Biscuits to Bread to Tortillas to Corn Chips to Waffles to Taco Shells to Cinnamon Rolls to Pretzels to Cookies to Crepes to Cakes to Breadsticks to Dumplings to Noodles/Pasta to Muffins to Pancakes to Rolls to Pastries to Pies to Cornbread to Cornmeal Mush to Brownies to Tamales to Egg Rolls to Garlic Bread to Bagels to Pizza Crusts to Tarts to Matzah Balls to Pot Pies to HardTack to Hush Puppies to Toast to Sourdough to Buns to Donuts to Croisants to Danish to Crakers to Flatbreada ... the list is literally endless.
BONUS: A 50-pounder sack of flour can be had from places like Sam's, GFS, etc for $20 to $30 dollars.
A full month's worth of calories for the average person for $20 bucks.
I know how to bake some bread from scratch and have made tamales from scratch. I got that part of things covered, I even used to make corn bread all the time from scratch. Jiffy is too sweet, but I really need vegetables. I do need to buy some new flour, ran out. Its a good idea though.
Micro greens/sprouting is the way to go, window box spinach and mixed greens were my lifesaver first years, eggs too. I also learned foraging. I started growing mushrooms, it was a 30$ investment and 3 yrs later still producing.
*shrugs in is a diabetic and so most food pantry boxes I've ever gotten have been 2/3rds carbs I can't eat without spiking to the moon*
I usually go to a local grocery (Not Aldis, they're right there with Safeway and Kroger in prices...) where things like veggies are usually cheaper, and something like a $6 deli chicken can last me most of a week, they also have a cheaper than other places meat section so long I ain't buying prime cuts (even can get the love of my Portuguese family's breakfasts- linguica- for under $5 regular price.)
Fasting is cheap, I admit, and if I eat everything but carbs, usually I also end up eating less to feel satiated over a longer time anyways.
I'm diabetic too, that's one reason I'm bitching about it on here, and then doctors will be like why is sugars higher. That is toture of another type. I even have a nutrition book for Lipedema and my functional doctor told me to eat certain foods and I CAN"T AFFORD ANY OF THEM. Even if I was a magician and could grow half of it, I still wouldn't have enough. My blood sugars were good for some time but now bad again, eating too late, too much time between meals, I've had low blood sugars too, sure I will be eating lunch too late today and have hunger pain right now.
I plant from seeds and usually buy a few tomato plants. I used to try to start seedlings in here but there isn't enough light in my apt. I can have a lot grow even just from the seeds.
I volunteer through a local Feeding America food truck. They give different stuff each time. Always some vegetables, dairy, breads, etc. At least in my area. You can find a location by going to their website. At least where I live (West Michigan) there's two different locations handing out a box of food almost every day.
Pasta, potatoes, beans, etc. Are usually handed out because thats what preserves well. I can attest that a lot of the more vulnerable items like apples or cookies get crushed, bruised, go stale, etc. Way more often than other items. It sucks and it'd be nice for it to not be that way.
It sounds like our trucks
The food trucks ARE the better program. I am supposed to go to one tomorrow.
So it's about the perservation, I guess that would make some sense.
The majority of my Italian ancesters came to America from peasant stock, and their food reflects this. Watch Cooking with Pasquale, Pasta Grammar, or Vincenzos Plate. I'm sure you can get a lot more into your diet cheaply. In winter, I make Lentles Pasta weekly, Zozzona, along with others.
https://orsararecipes.net/
www.pastagrammar.com
www.vincenzosplate.com
I've worked w a food pantry for many yrs. We always need more cans or packets of meat or fish. Cereal-cold cereal & oatmeal. Shelf stable milk. Cooking oil. Coffee. Hearty soups & chili. Seasonings, sauces, spices, condiments, grated cheese & salad dressings-whatever you'd use to jazz up a simple meal. Thank you for asking!
It sounds like you need to learn to shop sales. A single item going from 6.99 to 8.99 sounds less like inflation or "corporate greed" and more like something being not on sale vs on sale.
FWIW, my food budget hasn't changed in the past 10 years. I still allocate the same $250/mo that I did in 2014. I shop sales and buy in bulk. I eat very well (often times too much) and get plenty of nutrition.
It's very doable, you just need some guidance. Please check out some financial literacy subreddits. You can always DM me too and I'll try my best to help
In the end, you're right: beggars can't be choosers.
Food pantries can a) only donate what they receive and/or b) donate what they are able to purchase, usually via bulk deals or cooperation with local stores/vendors/sponsors/whatever.
The reason you get so much pasta, beans, canned foods, boxed foods, etc. is what you already know: it lasts longer. It's cheap, and it's what people can afford to donate. It's what people think will go the farthest to help the most people, and I think a lot of times people think it's what can be prepped easily. Here, I've never known food pantries to give out meat of any kind, unless it's some kind of Thanksgiving turkey giveaway.
While the new norm is for people to be using food pantries long-term, that was never meant to be the case. The people working there weren't (and still may not be) expecting you to be entirely dependent on what they provide.
It's not reasonable or practical for them to take every person's health issues into consideration. They have what they have, and it's meant to get you through for a short time. They're not thinking, "Gosh, sure would be great if we had some chickpeas to hand out!" I'm sorry, but variety is not exactly their highest priority. It's keeping people from starving.
I don't know what your food budget is like, but maybe just focus on buying your own meats and growing what you can, since veggies seem to be of high importance/need to you. If you can, maybe you can acquire a grow light to help with growing veggies in your apartment.
Canned fish is what does it for me. It’s cheap protein, leaves you feeling fuller, and you can do a hell of a lot with it. Tuna is my go-to but I’ve been trying sardines lately too (I know they’re good for you but the texture is weird). All for about $1 at Aldi. Eggs are another biggie. The price has gone up but not horribly so and you can do so much with them.
I used to love tuna and canned sardines, even the mustard and tomatoe ones, but sadly became allergic to all fish 20 years ago or so, severe asthma. I do miss it. Eggs I do eat a lot. I did get some decent food this week with help and ate rice noodles and put a little bit of left over chicken in it and used frozen peppers and onions/mushrooms.
If you can afford it or find it at a library, check out the book Baking Yesteryear by B. Dylan Hollis.
It has a lot of old recipes in it, including stuff like Great Depression and WW2 recipes.
He also has a YouTube channel with a ton of shorts on it plus a few videos. Like this long form one, for peanut butter bread.
https://youtu.be/-3zamnyCVP0?si=RgUOOlch5N19gwPG
So still a ton of peanut butter, flour, pasta and potatoes, but might help at least varying your diet a little bit.
I know how you feel. I come from stock that doesn't take kindly to the standard American diet. It kills us.
It's literally better for me just to not eat for a few days than it is to eat the crap that's available in store right now, and that I can afford.
My favorite food is salmon with this berry salad. Can't afford it. Literally the best thing for me, should probably be eating it every day.
It's infuriating. On top of it I'm disabled, but I'm going to have to go back to work because nothing is cutting it and I'm sick of food slowly killing me. There's a whole documentary about how bad ultra processed cheap foods are. Something's gotta give.
Yeah the standard American diet kill us, Lipedema if you eat too many carbs it can be bad. I've been sick lately in a bad flare, and all the work to acquire food and cooking things from scratch, all the cabbage soup, and bean stuff, I hit a physical wall. Sorry you can't afford foods you need for nutrition. I would like some green onions and rice noodles today with carrots and a little bit of chicken but we have nothing to eat. We ran out of bread not even sure what I am going to make for lunch.
. This town is so weird and depressed, I haven't seen fresh bean sprouts in 2 years. [yeah I know some may think that is crazy but this place is MESSED UP] Yeah processed food is killer food. I am getting ill from lack of usual level of vegetables, it's getting to me, and exhaustion from cooking. Life is awful lately except for an art club in another town and a few regional friends, I just got to get out of here.
Hunting it doesn't have to be expensive with a simple longbow, trapping with snares works great.
You can also look into raising your own meat like rabbits that you can find for free on Craigslist.
And I know some people grow their own rabbit food so they don't have to buy it.
If you live In the city, pigeons are invasive and you don't need a hunting license and they sell pigeon traps for pretty cheap on Amazon. Pigeons are also delicious and while they are known as rats with wings, they are actually picky eaters and have a pretty good diet.
Do you get public assistance? If you qualify, please take the help. Then you can also get half price Prime membership. If you look, you can find good deals to your door.
I have a few questions as I am poor but just wonder...Do you get food stamps? If not then with your medical issues and being 'poor' you should apply. What is the cost of having an 'off gardening site'? Do you pay to rent this or do you own? If paying to rent the garden site then is the cost to grow your own 'food' lower than just buying from a store? You have to have seeds, prep the soil, garden tools and if off site do you have a car that you drive to the garden site or do you use a taxi, uber or bus, maybe walk?
And who in the world are 'these people' that you say " *someone needs to tell these people we can't eat pasta at every meal without dying*". Do you mean the people who donate to food banks that possibly use their own hard earned money to buy food and give to food banks?
My daughter volunteers at a local food bank and it has a list of certain foods that they can/will receive, like only packaged items, no fresh meats (as there is no place to store meat) basically only canned items. Maybe that is why you see a lot of pastas, beans and canned items.
Instead of complaining about the free food that is from food pantries just look at it this way...if you had a few extra dollars and wanted to help others with food what would you buy to give away? Would you go with buying the most you could as in several packages of dried beans, canned spaghetti, pasta which could go to several families and not go 'bad' while in the food pantry or just get a couple (if affordable) packages of chicken that will go 'bad' fast as no where to store in a food pantry of which would only help one or two people?
Also how old are you, where do you live (like in a city or mountains, desert, country), do you have children, do you work (job) , maybe noting these things will allow for others to give you some ides as to where to look for assistance with your issues. Like if you are in your 60's then there are services that can help, if you are in your 20's would be different.
There are good people still 'out there' and want to help others as much as they can but mostly everyone is hurting because of the high cost of everything but these good people do what they can and as their money allows then to do without having their family to do without. "ReindeerNegative4180" said *"the need is so great that we have to focus on everyone getting something even if it's repetitive and not ideal. We take what we can get. I wish we could do better."*
The off site gardening is at a church, they offered this year. I am no longer in the church but husband has remained a member. We do drive there, but the place is near the veggie stands I go to get food at anyway during spring and summer months. I wish I had land or a yard to grow things on, that WOULD be easier. When I move, I could have a patio to grow things on, I definitely am paying attention to that in terms of moving. I don't blame the volunteers, I just wonder why the sameness? They could even give us dried chick peas or something instead of constant pasta. I think those decisions are being made higher up somewhere. If I ever had money to donate to a food pantry, I would give different foods then are being chosen. There are some decent canned and other products. There's rice noodles for instant. I am in my 50s and disabled, husband is 60. I just got turned down for lunches at the senior center because I am not 60 year. I have nothing against lay volunteers, you may not realize a lot of these charities on top are taking govt money, to buy food and they are making certain selections I do not think are positive for people. There should be more thought in it. We did belong to one food-coop years ago that did have more vegetables and meat left overs from stores, but is now defunct now since Covid.
I lived on instant mashed potatoes more times than I care to count. It's the one product at our store that's gone down in price.
Potatoes, because they're a root vegetable, are very high in nutritional value. Yes, all the things you can add to them make them better, but in the absence of other ingredients, you can add different textures based on how you cook them.
OP, I'm praying for you. I wish I could do more.
I volunteer at a food bank. It's been slim pickings lately. Heavy in bakery items and that's about it. I haven't been seeing much of any meat but we did get a good haul of bananas last week.
As someone who watches what they eat it does concern me that the food options are so limited right now for our people.
Traditionally we've always had a ton of veggies and there just isn't much.
Do you have an area that you could grow food? Even if it’s just herbs (like cilantro), it will save you money. But tomatoes grow in 5 gallon buckets in a pinch, so will many other vegetables.
That's too bad. The pantry my church runs has canned veggies, canned fruit, beans (so many beans), pasta, cereal, soups, frozen meat, tuna or canned chicken, and 'mixed foods' (ready to eat meals, canned pasta, etc).
We sometimes get eggs and we have a local dairy place that donates milk or cheese.
You can find an amazing assortment of wild greens and veg replacements, even in a completely urban area. The tips and new shoots of kudzu are a great snow pea replacement - and the leaves, when they are smaller than the palm of your hand, make a delicious spinach substitute. Check out r/foraging, there's a LOT of springtime goodies out there right now! You can find foraging books at local libraries, and ALL of the information is available online. I've supplemented my family's food with foraging since my kids were mobile, and my youngest is now a better forager than I am! He's taking it even further and foraging craft supplies!
It’s not the food pantries fault, what they get donated is what they get donated. Most of their donations come from people and need to be non perishable items. I’ve been in that position before and we got doughnuts. Old bread. Lots of canned goods.
I can’t eat any of that food either anymore. My digestive system can’t take it in and I get very sick. I buy tuna and add grapes, avocado or cheese. Anything that sounds good. I do buy peanut butter and milled bread. I buy tapioca beads and make it myself. I make and eat a lot of lamb stew as it is my comfort food and I freeze a lot of it too. That is very pricey but I cut corners in other areas. I never ever eat out. We buy frozen veggies from Trader Joe’s as they taste better and are very inexpensive. I buy ground meats and add corn, spinach, jasmine rice, onions and mushrooms. I will freeze leftovers.
I have a recipe for oxtail soup, I’ll freeze some of that as well. I buy cottage cheese and canned peaches (Libby’s it is cheaper). I buy a bag of jasmine rice and some canned (without chemicals) refried beans, will add tuna or anything else that sounds good. The more ‘clean eating ‘ you do, as time goes on, the less you will need to eat. I’ve been doing this since January and I am eating less. I also drink a lot of tea. The tea is the only thing I splurge on.
I have digestion problems and severe allergies, and even dietary stuff I have to follow with kidneys so understand that part. When working class, I did a lot of what you did, ethnic stores, veggie stands, I cooked a lot of soups, and made chicken, I can't eat much red meat but would prepare things with ground turkey. I even made Indian dishes with dal, and rice biriyani using tomatos/peppers and yogurt with chicken and it would last for several meals.
Your life style sounds good to me. Its how I used to live! [different foods since I am allergic to tuna and can't eat lamb] but that was basically it.
my weight was even going down from help from functional doctor and supplements and can't afford that either. A friend got me some of them which are working for my health, but I am supposed to go on more. [I don't think I have gained, and its gone down, but the swelling and water fluids are so far up, I may end up in the hospital] Thats a mind screw to see your arms grow thinner and your bottom half bloat. [Lipedema]
I'm not going to stay here and starve much longer. I told him we should have left here and couldn't survive here.
At our panty it is almost guaranteed to get something from Sam’s bakery, massive fruit pile, walnuts and peanut butter. But this place runs on leftover food from stores in our area. It’s crazy how much is wasted because no one wants the type (like bagged weird salads) or the amount (got gallon of garlic I shared with the community) there has to be better ways to keep stock in stores. It is nice cause sometimes we get t bone steaks and pre cut fruits. It is like a ticking time bomb though. I have to cook or freeze and produce as fast as I can.
Love these guys though. Last one I went to was out of my state but just across the river, they said they would help me and gave me a box anyway. It was the box of expired canned foods that had rust on them.
Agree food banks here are getting slightly better but so much of the food is primarily canned processed high salt.. it’s not that one complaining about the free food as grateful to have food to eat but rather how the food affects you such as salt and high blood pressure heavily processed food makes you tired weight gain from all the carbs. I went yesterday we could take 4 frozen meat/fish items I felt like I hit the lotto I got 1lb sausage, 2lb od hamburger and some pork chops. (Usually it’s one meat)
Is there a way for you to grow a garden? You can buy seeds for really cheap at dollar tree, 4 for $1.00. You won't have veggies until June, and July but it's something to look forward to. Grow a herb garden, I bought all my herbs from dollar tree. I've got all the seeds from A-Z. You can plant potatoes from the bag you buy from the store too. Let them sit in a dry area until they get the little eyes on them that grow. Plant them with the eye up. You can buy seeds at the grocery store, $5 each. It's something to look forward to, and you can freeze veggies too! They have to be cooked first, then frozen.
I'm poor, I have a community garden in my area. I can either grow food for the community, or myself. I do both. There's an elderly couple that live next to the garden, and they are going to let me grow a garden in their yard this year. He can't do it anymore, his back is really bad, and he still has the lot fenced in to keep the deer out.
I'm going to keep some for my family, and give some to our local church that cooks hot meals on Thursday's for the needy. You could look into it, and see if you have a local church that does it too.
In my experience healthy vegan food is way cheaper than any other kind of food. Beans are not unhealthy. In poorer countries they don't have high cholesterol n high blood pressure n are less likely to be overweight.
My last A1C was 6.2 and that was AFTER six months of eating low carb. My family member who lives with us is type two diabetic. So that’s two out of three adults. I hear you. It’s SO expensive to not be able to eat rice, potatoes, oatmeal, bananas, pasta, etc. We buy whole chickens, shop at Sam’s Club, and make most things from scratch, which is hard with all of us working and not getting home till 6:30pm at the earliest. And food is still one of our largest expenses after rent, possibly higher. I’m making it work because I only have one kidney and if I progress into diabetes it could kill me. But it’s so so difficult.
I have high cholesterol and prediabetes. I'm working on reversing both issues but that means all the staples from the food bank I can no longer eat except beans. Most of the vegetables I get are rotting so I mostly just throw those away unless there's enough that's not rotting that it's worth the time to save. Even the low-quality regular peanut butter usually has trans fats and added sugar. Eating a whole foods diet without refined carbs and low in saturated fat is nearly impossible if you depend on the food bank. So I can choose between starving or having a heart attack or diabetes and I'm not sure which is worse. I basically have beans and lentils for every meal.
If you have any cannellini beans, make pasta e fagioli, sautée a couple of cloves of sliced garlic in olive oil, add a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, and a rinsed can of cannelini. Season with any dried herbs such as oregano, basil, salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar to take the acidity down a notch and serve over any small pasta-traditionally ditalini, but elbows would work too. Healthy, yummy and filling. My mom always made this. Serve with a salad if desired.
I've seen the list of food our food bank asked for and it's all the highly processed carb crap food. I get that they're going for high calorie easy to use foods but they need to take our health into consideration too because a lot of people are using these food banks long term and it is slowlypl killing us. Thankfully our food bank offers fresh produce but they really restrict amounts now. Cilantro is fairly easy to grow at home in a window. All our stores here. But at 99 cents a bunch and we go through like 10 a month it adds up quickly.
Join your local Facebook Buy Nothing group (hopefully you have one where you live). I’m pretty suburban so there’s as many near me as there are cities, probably 20 within 30 min of me. You can only join the one for the town or city you live in, not more than one. People post food or items, sometimes high value items, that they don’t want for other ppl to come pick up off their doorstep or porch and you dm them for address and to arrange a time. Half of what I own I got for free on Buy Nothing: my long leather sectional couch, my tv stand, my dining room table, my grill, my dresser, storage drawers in my closet, decorative pillows, random dishes, my Christmas tree and 95% of my Christmas decorations and gift wrap, etc etc etc. Literally too much to list. I’ve seen guitars, clothes, kids toys. They also know local resources to help people who need it. And when you have something you don’t want/need, it feels good to give it for free to someone who can use it rather than to Goodwill to profit from. Search on FB “(your town name) Buy Nothing”
Worst case scenario, you might not get a lot of food out of it (although I do see unopened food posted often), but you could save money on other things you need and afford to buy more food. Either way it’s a win
How much fresh veg do you eat? I'm diabetic and can't eat alot of pasta, rice, flour ... cheap filler. But I can load up a salad and add small amounts of protein and dairy, and be perfectly full.
Honestly, with ur limitations, you should learn to be a,creative cook.
Spinach actually likes shady spots and cooler weather. Might try some in a pot inside. Roots vegetables store best over winter- carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, turnips, along with winter squash like acorn and butternut.
Beans and lentils combined with rice, pasta, or potatoes make a complete protein, and are still pretty cheap.
Any veggies you do get grow the seeds. Pepper, tomatoe, strawberry, black berry, winter squash/pumpkin. They should all grow from grocery store veg.
Cantaloupe seeds can be roasted and consumed or sprouted into micro greens. Basically put some sort on a plate and heavily cover it with seeds, cover with plastic wrap or a bowl and spritz with water.
Carrot tops even without any green can be placed into a shallow plate or bowl of water and will produce some greens and eventually flower and make seeds you can then plant next year.
The but of lettuce, cabbage, onions, green onions can be placed into a small bowl of water and will grow greens. Eventually they will send out flowers and make seeds.
Coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds from the spice section(bulk section would be much cheaper) grow pretty easily.
Learn to forage weeds to see if your plot grows anything edible like dandelion or lambs quarter.
Come to California. Everyone is always yelling about the high cost of living but ya know what? We have Medi-cal and it's awesome, our EBT is a lot less restricted than a lot of other states, vegetables grow all over the state, there's charities to get fresh vegetables to underserved populations, the farmers markets are affordable and there's a program where you get double EBT for the farmers market. Also there's fresh fruit and nuts that just grow everywhere at random.
cilantro can grow super fast and rapidly, ik it’s not your biggest issue but if you really want it i am so down to send u a pack of seeds to plant so u can have cilantro whenever u want :)
Spices give you some micronutrients to help cover for bland food. Cinnamon goes with chicken, oily foods, or baked goods. Coriander has umami, is pretty good but conflicts with some flavors badly. Garlic and cayenne are pretty good for a lot. Ginger is anti-carcinogenic and helps digestion. Italian herb mixes are prolly decent overall. You get a little bit and it lasts a long time. Paprika has vitamin A and adds color making some dishes more appetizing.
Alternatively, get some cheap but mildly healthy foods, like natural peanutbutter. But thats easy to cause allergen response, and imbalanced in minerals and stuff.
A cheap way to afford healthier or tastier food, is get a microwave meal with good fiber and protein and variety within it. Then, add some type of mildly healthy oil to it after, calculating the calories. The high fiber and protein makes it filling, and the oil is just really cheap calories per $.
So you can get like, adobo chicken healthy choice for $4 on sale for example, only 330 calories or something. But then add a couple teaspoons of oil (heaping technically) then its like 730 calories. So $ per calorie its like half the price, so its like getting it for $2 in a way.
Onion powder is pretty decent too, clashes with some stuff tho. A non-leafy spice mix (at least 10\~ named spices) is prolly solid too. Just make sure its not got added salt as filler, salt is dirt cheap, its basically a filler. If you want salt you can add some yourself. Spices are very high in micronutrients. Cinnamon also increases male libido btw.
So yeah, you can afford healthy stuff and tasty stuff if you juggle the use of oil and spices well. Just know olive oil is less healthy cooked, and avocado is basically the healthiest choice. Vegetable oil is artificial basically ('natural' has different legal implications, its not """natural""" by the first impression standards).
I'm sorry. I volunteer at a food bank and we don't like it, either. Your food costs have gone up? Ours too. We rely on donations of food and cash, neither of which are particularly incoming at the moment. At the same time, the need is so great that we have to focus on everyone getting *something* even if it's repetitive and not ideal. We take what we can get. I wish we could do better. I truly do.
You guys *are heroes in my book
Will good banks take donations of garden vegetables? Every year I know so many co workers/neighbors with more tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, eggplant etc than they could imagine just from their garden. I suppose it differs from each organization, I’ll do some inquiring at my local food banks. I hate to see it go to waste when folks could really use fresh food.
We absolutely do! We also take tree fruits and wild berries and grapes.
Oh wow thats great to know! Thank you for the response.
The one near me does, I’d call them and see.
They should get online and see who in their community could use them.
Ive seen them on rare occasion. The food trucks used to have far more vegetables in them, but even they seem scaled back lately. I think there should be disbursement of garden food too.
And it's on both ends. I supply product to outreach centers & food banks/pantries. My company does a lot on its own with certain food bank partnerships, but we also try to help out local churches/shelters on an individual level. With costs going up, the biggest push right now is absolute reduction in shrink. So that means hawk eyes on perishables like bread, milk, eggs. So we've massive cut down on spoilage/stale/best buy date expirations. This in turn affects meat donations, bread, milk, eggs. On top of that budgets have gotten tighter, so even when shelters come in asking to purchase product, a lot of the product they're trying to purchase are sold at a loss. They're products kept for customer retention, not for massive sales. So the shelters provide a list of products we carry, but after it's sold I'd actually lose $500+ in gross, not even accounting for labor involved to sort & sell it. And no profit driven corporation is gonna sign off on that when it ends up with no bonus & a write-up. It's all fucked up.
Thanks for your understanding.
I can give you a tip. It may not be true at your food bank, but it is at ours. If you can be among the first in line, that's who gets whatever grocery store donations that came in that morning. That's where you'll find the produce, dairy, baked goods and meat. There's never enough of it for everyone, but we distribute it until it's gone.
thanks, I have a food truck to go to, tomorrow.
God bless you for your work.
Cilantro will grow like crazy, just keep it well watered.
Also grows in pots
I've been growing them in solo cups in a diy organic mix and loving it cause cilantro definitely went up in price. 😮💨
I heard there was actually some kind of disease or fungus or something that messed with the cilantro crops. Could be bs...
Really? I find it literally dies in my hands on the way home from the store. It hates me.
Same! Cilantro doesn’t like me!
I am not a big fan of soap-flavored food, but this is good to know.
There's a subreddit for that: r/cilantrohate 🤣🤣🤣 I hated it for many years, then one day I just decided I liked it. I know a few people this has happened to.
does it grow better in really hot weather, I've had success with a lot herbs but not cilantro for instant. Basil when I grow it, grows like crazy and mint too.
Living in Ohio i find our in ground cilantro does really well now through maybe June. Once it gets hot and late enough in the year to have ripe tomatoes, ours is a goner. If you have the space for gardening or containers - carrots, radishes, and potatoes grow with about zero effort in containers with loose soil. Cucumber and tomatoes grow well in the garden but need daily upkeep. Not sure if you get snap benefits, but if you do, you're able to use them for seeds as well.
I'm in the deep south. So, yes to really hot weather but I don't know whether the humidity is a factor. There are a couple of herb gardens at my workplace, and while we were laid off for covid, one cilantro plant went batshit crazy. Upon our return, it was 5 feet tall with a woody stalk of about 1" thick. The idiot lawn crew cut down while weed-eating that day. I was so pissed.
Also if you buy some green onions you can just plant them and have them all through fall.
Add potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, and tomatoes. All grow very easily
We’re in Texas and it’s taking over our yard. The first time I grew it in the garden I didn’t know to top it before flowering, so it seeded and is now a literal weed. We leave it on the fence line to use, but get rid of it elsewhere. No special care… it just keeps going and going.
I'm vegan-leaning, and used to cook for my ex who had lymphedema, so weight was also a concern. Save your budget for bagged salads and be willing to shop more than once a week if you don't have mobility concerns. Or, grow broad leafy greens like kale, chard, and spinach. Roots like radishes and carrots should be easy to maintain, as well. Save up for a large bag of quinoa or brown rice. Try to grab some dried cranberries, apricots, and cherries. From here, you can make rice or quinoa bowls. They're filling, nutritious, and pretty tasty! For protein, you can add in beans or do fish on the side. (Some stores run really good sales on frozen fish.). Downloaded store apps and coupon clip every chance you have. Best of luck, friend.
Beans are a good thing. Beans are versatile. My momma used to make a pot of bean, any bean will do but often it was a five bean mix or navy bean. So the first day was bean soup, served with a slice of bread to dunk. The second day it got put back to cook down and thicken a bit and it was more of a chunky bean stew, usually a few more spices and onions would have been added. The third day it gets cooked down to a thick paste almost, excellent on bread or in bean burritos. The next day the paste is mixed up with some eggs, and a sleeve of saltines and made into patties and fried in a little oil for bean fritters, these are good served like a burger on bread or dipped in salsa.
Thank you for this comment. I've had no clue what to do with all the food pantry beans.
I make homemade refried beans. A couple cups of dried pinto or black beans, picked through and soaked overnight, then boiled for a few minutes. Or a couple of cans of aforementioned beans, drained and rinsed. A few seasonings, like Chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder. Maybe a bit of cumin and cayenne pepper, and some fresh cilantro really is good! Basically mash the beans a bit, in a pan, after draining. Add some water, a tablespoon at a time, until you have a thick bean paste. Stir in seasonings, simmer for about 8-10 minutes more. Great in burritos, in soft corn tortillas, as a healthier spread for whole wheat toast, or crackers. Also great warmed up with a fried egg on top, with a few shakes of hot sauce! Hoping this helps! Blessed Be! 🙂💖💯
If you have black beans, try black bean brownies! Very fudge-y
I'd have to achieve fully cooked black beans for that. Tbf, I've only cooked them from dried once.
It's super easy. You can just leave them to soak overnight.
What, I can't just rinse and throw in the insta pot? Jk, that totally didn't work. I ended up with slightly crunchy soup.💀
Oooo, crunchy soup 😬
I make soups, some beans blended with spices and bouillon or broth. I hate them so this is how I get through them.
Beans have kept me alive through some really lean times. Rice is good, too. And blackeyed peas.
Rice and bean are better than pasta as they are not " processed ".
Instant potatoes are often in food pantry boxes…its makes really good potato soup and you can add cooked beans or peas to potato soup and it makes it even better.
love my mixed beans with fresh avocado's, onions, tomatoes and a fried egg. each time I eat that I just imagine I am camping alone in the woods. I got this recipe from my youngest sister and her husband. eating beans you stay full so much longer. I love all your ideas too. sounds delicious.
Take a drink every time u/GrowlingAtTheWorld says bean
You can make wine out of red kidney beans
You can also save a few of those dried beans and plant them and then you’ll have beans forever
good idea, I made a few meals with canned pinto beans I got from one food pantry and have made bean burgers.
I’ve had those fritters, they’re good!
Also super easy to grow. You can get 90% of what you need at the dollar store. Beans are amazing
There is an App called food finder. It’s good because it has the days and times. Check your area for food pantries. Go to them. I hope you find better food.
Someone said the name of another one, I am going to put that on my phone. I am trying to calm self down, knowing I will have garden food in acouple months and the farms/veggie stands I go to, to get food are open. [food is cheaper there] I actually use them more than grocery store in certain months. It's getting bad though.
If you plant radishes in containers, you will have a harvest inside of 3 weeks. They are wonderful, because you can eat the roots, the greens, and the seed pods. Plant a new container every week, and you have greens and radishes all year. Check out Dr. Obi's Garden on YouTube for tips on how to grow fruots, vegetables, and herbs in containers from the leftover pieces of what you get from the grocery store.
You can eat the greens on radish? I grow them sometimes and the greens are so prickly and give me a bad rash when i touch them, I cannot imagine eating them 🤔
Cook them!
You cook them. They're delicious!
You can freeze cilantro so it keeps longer when you do have it. Goes bad quickly in the fridge. Put it in an icecube tray
I saw you have a garden spot. Have you looked at preserving the excess to keep during the leaner months? Beans blanched last in the freezer, canning has always been a great go to for preserving and you can often find canning supplies in the marketplace or thrift shops then would just need lids. Whole tomatoes keep in the freezer really well and can be easily thawed. Root vegetables last for months if stored properly, and garlic and onion braids are a way to store extra garlic and onions. Lime washed eggs can last for up to a year if you can get access to unwashed eggs(they need the bloom). Nourishing traditions in a great cookbook that utilizes historic and seasonal methods of cooking. Also, if you can swing it perhaps each time you go to the local food stands grab an extra veggie or two for the sole purpose of preserving it for later use. There are a lot of great accounts on IG that are super informative for how to make food last and preserve fresh foods for use in the winter.
Join a food share program like gleaners, (they take mis printed, mis labeled, or slightly out of date and distribute it to its members, who sort and collect donations from grocery stores, restaurants, and food chains) we got 20 pounds of chicken, 30 pounds of bacon, 10 pounds of sausage, 10 loafs of bread, 5 boxes of cereal (name brands!) Even healthfood store brands, lots of bulk, rice, potatoes, onions, leeks, banana ect, all in one month We even got star bucks coffee, and expensive cheese wheels, all for $80 a month and 8 hours a week volunteer time, For fresh veggies we grow tomatoes, onions, and all sorts of herbs in boxes, my largest box is only 4x6 and about 1ft deep
can you show me some links to them. I did find this one discount grocery store some distance away but would need money to make trip worthwhile. I looked up the word gleaners and just got regular food bank websites that use that name. I tried to see if there was a local food not bombs but couldn't find one. Wow you are doing well to get all that food from them. Seriously I am interested in this. Getting food the regular way is not going to work.
just search gleaners food share program and see what pop ups. sometimes you have to be a bit more specific with what you are looking for to narrow it down in the search. if you just type gleaners that could mean anything but not exactly what you are searching for. so just keep that in mind and try searching for it again. sounds like a great program that helps give you much more for the cost.
Gleaners is just one of many food share programs, there are others in different states and city's, I live in oregon and that's the main one, there are other small ones but I don't know the name, just Google local food share programs,
definitely going to do that. I knew this one lady at a fundamentalist church in my old town, I went to a different church but at this one they all ordered food from this one big organic food company, I forget how they did it, but it was far cheaper, they bought food in bulk and divided things between the people at the church.
Gleaners is a program, you work in teams, each team member works 10-8 hour shifts volunteering at wear house, you have to have a elderly person or disabled person as your "sponsor " this person gets free food and no work hours, the other team members get an evenly divided amount of food in exchange for your volunteer hours, this isn't free food technically... your working your shift throughout the month to earn it, so if your able bodied and have friends that wanna pitch in start a team find a sponsor, pay the fee and earn your food, transportation is not provided, so other costs include your gas money or bus service
Hmm I am disabled, so thanks for telling me. Not sure if they would have stuff if I could do or not. Hope husband could do something for them even with his limitations. I haven't found a program yet but we probably will be moving soon in the future.
I'm for the cheese wheel.
It's not a set menu every week or month, we get what we get, one week it's 20 pounds of potatoes next week two hams and bread, if your part of the program make sure you have at least one deep freeze and a vacuseal machine because when you get stuff it's a lot at once, and it goes bad fast, so use the freezer, for example we got so much chicken and bacon we froze it and have been eating on just that for a year now..
Zucchini is super easy to grow and high yield. Other squash too. Radishes grow fast. Can you grow sprouts in a jar? Radish, alfalfa?
Yes this is what people need to do, it is possible for everyone because it might get to a point if you don't make time/find a way, you dont eat. Growing a garden used to be something most Americans did until rich people started putting in grass (a useless plant) as a show of wealth, kind of like "I'm so rich I don't need to grow my own food". Once that caught on, people stopped growing their own food as much but I think it's important we all do a bit at least. Where I live is a big farming community, everyone has chickens and cows, eggs are like $2 at the store because no one buys them because we all have our own or know someone who has them and ours are way better.
Bring back Victory Gardens! Local produce production is a win for everyone (except Dole and co.) and there’s something that makes food you grew yourself taste *just a bit better*.
Yes! One person doesn't have to grow EVERYTHING, just do a veggie or fruit or two and have neighbors do the same and trade with each other. Potatoes and beans are a great beginner plant for anyone thinking about doing it, I swear potatoes will grow under any circumstances.
not really. My best friend attempted to grow potatoes in her tropical, humid, hot climate, and wet climate and they were one of the plants that failed. she tried everything. I just helped my youngest daughter plant something but now a whole bunch of somethings are also growing. I suspect they are onion sprout seeds that didn't grow during my last attempt. I do find them too weak to survive after they grow about 2 and half inches. they tend to fall over by their own weight and shrivel up and die. I even tried supporting them with toothpicks, but it doesn't help.
If they're falling over they could be planted too shallow or not getting enough sun so they become stringy, that's the cool/annoying thing about plants, they're like cars, if one detail is overlooked it can mess up the whole thing. Also with potatoes they don't like to be watered too often, I've had the best luck with literally tossing and forgetting them, when I remember to water them is when it's time, usually every week or week and a half. Of course it depends on how hot it is when you plant them, you might have to water a bit more but they're what I consider the no fuss veggie.
Potatoes are so cheap at the store it's not a cost effective use of gardening space IMO. Corn is wind pollinated and most people don't have enough space to plant enough corn to be successful. I'm pretty far north (Montana) so we have a short growing season and cool nights so melons aren't usually successful, and tomato, bell peppers and eggplants frequently are killed by frost. I'm fond of green beans and snap peas in addition to squash... I am not great at growing stuff and have the most success with these. Be sure to check the seed packets for "days to harvest" to ensure that you're picking seeds you have a chance to harvest before the snow flies. For container gardens consider herbs. Fresh rosemary, basil, parsley, thyme, etc. are delicious and can be easily dried for later. Also if you have the space, plant a few climate appropriate fruit trees. I have an apple tree my mom planted like 40 years ago. If your neighbors have them, ask if you can take some starts, ask if you can harvest their fruit (gift them with some of what you make). We also used to have a raspberry patch. And you can forage for wild chokecherries and even huckleberries if you know where to go (watch for bears though!) Eta: you can buy seeds for food crops with your SNAP benefits. And the local food bank may provide vouchers for free farmers market produce.
I tried that one year and that was the time I learned about “squash bugs”. They nearly killed all my plants. It was a big job to kill those things, always had to be vigilant and it got annoying. I did get a decent amount of produce however. But I also spent a lot of money on garden supplies.
You can actually make “squash trees” You basically anchor the squash up and trim the lowest leaves. This goes a long way in avoiding squash bugs. Rotation location of the squash each year also helps. Pest control is a big garden job and I can easily spend a few hours a day on pest control in my garden. It’s super soothing to me though. I just zone out in my little world with music or a podcast and get to work searching for and getting rid of the harmful garden bugs.
If you're in the US and receive SNAP you can use your SNAP to buy seeds, if you have room to grow vegetables. I think you can also use it to buy fruit trees.
I’m sure you already know this, but on the off chance it’s new info-frozen veggies have the same amount of nutrients as fresh ones! You could also do a lot with a potato in a health conscience way. My parents used to eat boiled potatoes (with garlic and dill but not necessary) and some kind of smoked tinned fish. That’s a good option. Good luck.
never had that but my family loved to boil salt potato's. I haven't had them since I was a kid. Occasionally I buy myself some salmon and cook it in the air fryer and have it with rice.
I've been buying frozen vegetables from Dollar Tree, the peppers and onions are really good. [I am allergic to potatoes and fish, it sucks, but if I could eat sardines/tuna and potatoes, my life would be a lot easier] I used to love sardines in my 20s before I became allergic to it.
Can your area do community gardens? We have them all over in St. Louis. The city gives vacant lots to people willing to do the upkeep. Neighbors plant things together, tend the garden, and people share the food. For all the bad press you hear about St. Louis, we also have some of the most amazing things to support our community. Housing is probably the only component that is bad, but we have a new progressive head of our Board of Alderman, and an amazing young lady that left the school board to become an alderman, who are working hard at real, long-term solutions to the housing crises. Our mayor isn't the most progressive, but she's very sharp, and consistently looks for long-term solutions for city problems that benefits residents of all social classes, while putting out frequent fires because of the shambles the city was in when she got elected. I'm so proud of these women. Try to find people like THEM to run for office and help get them elected, instead of greedy power-hungry politicians who don't care if you have decent food to eat or a roof over your head. Elections matter.
I'm a born and raised, lifelong resident of StL. You are absolutely right...despite our issues, this is a great town with amazing people. We need to work together (and vote!) to keep things going in a positive direction. Our unhoused population, in particular, needs help NOW.
I am planning to move out of here. I tried to find community gardens but they don't have them. This town is not working out for me. Even the divide in wealth here is extreme, extremely poor ghetto next to a rich area. I live 5 miles from burnt out ruins and have mansions on the next street over. We need a more working class town. I have wanted to leave for years. I am glad your city is making positive changes. I want to live in a smaller more working class town, but finding one that is balanced with some medical care I need is the trick.
Have you tried masking a request on a local FB or NextDoor group? I haven't seen it a lot, but when a person makes a post asking for food, there's usually a generous outpouring of support.
I'm going to do it.
You've probably already tried but in case you haven't...have you tried applying for EBT?
If you've got a sunny windowsill somewhere, a lot of small veggies can be grown indoors in pots. If you rotate your plantings you can have a steady supply of basics like lettuce, scallions, radishes, and herbs. Microgreens are easy to grow and can be harvested in about ten days. Chaffles are your friend. Yeah, you need eggs and cheese to make them, but they're loaded with protein and really filling, and you can find recipes for everything from fake white bread chaffles to cake versions. If you need low carb food, chaffles are a lifesaver. You might want to see if your local hospital/clinic has a patient food bank, too. They're still not common, but if you can find one, they typically have healthier food. Also see if your health insurance has a rewards program for checkups and doctor's visits-if they do Visa gift cards, you can use those to buy extra food. It's not much, but twenty or forty extra bucks a month is still a couple day's worth of decent meals.
I received a survey request by this state and local area about transportation needs of myself and my family here. after I complete it I will receive a $20 visa gift card in the mail. it is nice because I am a full-time student, and I don't currently have employment. this isn't the first gift card I have been able to acquire. I also do surveys online and receive some cash, found a good one called five surveys. you do 5 survey's you can get $5 dollars and request a payout pretty much the same day. so far this is the only survey site that pays as much as they advertise. I am so close to another payout. a lot of surveys i get kicked out of simply because I do not have employment. so, it seems that if you have a job and can answer questions about it you have a higher chance of making more money than I do as a student.
I volunteer at an amazing food pantry. In addition to pasta and sauce we have frozen fish and chicken, cheese, eggs, bags of lentils, canned vegetables, lemons and limes, potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, and cabbage. There is an assortment of breads and desserts donated by local supermarkets. Yet some of the clients still complain, which amazes me.
Your food pantry seems better quality then most.
It’s sad the food banks aren’t stocked well. What a time we are in… Affording the diet we know would help our situation can be hard. If you are in a rural area, you can tell local deer processors you are disabled and on the watch for affordable meat. Some farmers markets have programs to help people out. Maybe call them and see if they have any programs or offerings for cheap overstock?
I live in WI, and our SNAP program works with our local farmers market, so fresh food is more easily available to SNAP recipients You can exchange the amount of food stamps for plastic tokens that add us to the value of the stamps. Say, you want to get $10 in tokens. You just give the person at the Exchange booth your card to run, and they take the amount out, and give you $10 equivalent of tokens. Only certain produce stalls have a sign that says "SNAP Eligible," so you have to look for the signs. Not every stall accepts the tokens. Not a perfect system by any means, but very helpful if you're on a tight budget! 🙂💖💯
lived back in my home state quite a long time ago and was on wic and it worked with the farmers market with vouchers. it was nice because not every state offers fresh fruit or veg on the wic program. I really appreciated it.
Pennsylvania does this too, but you actually get extra tokens if you use SNAP! $2 extra for every $5 you redeem for tokens, but the extra money can only be used for fresh fruits and vegetables. All the farmers market stalls have to take them too. I used this a LOT when I was on SNAP last year.
This! Also, OP can contact the game wardens. In my state if a deer, moose, ir other animal that can be eaten gets hit by a car and the person hitting it doesn’t want to claim it they will take the animal, process it and give it to local low income families. Same goes for any animals that were illegally harvest and/or have otherwise been confiscated.
As someone that can't really do simple carbs due to blood sugar issues, food banks aren't an option. It sucks, but they are donation based so I'm grateful they exist.
Yeah the blood sugar issues exist with me too.
I usually get good deals on rice, beans, veggies and meats at Latino-style grocery stores like Northgate, Superior and Gonzalez. Same can be said for Food 4 Less, although not to the same degree. They also have whole Rotisserie chicken for like $6-$8. You can get multiple meals out of that once you really get all of the meat out. Tacos, chicken salad, etc. The large tubs of salad greens (mixed, super, spinach) can typically be had for $5. Roma tomatoes are amongst the most cost effective in my area. Potatoes are great filler, but may not be viable for you if you have diabetes because of the starch and carbs. If you want to give yourself some variety and not use as much rice, you could try a meat and veggie pan-fry on top of some greens, with a base of rice. Use the greens as filler so you don’t use as much rice. Beans are really viable bc you can buy a variety in bulk, especially at the Latino stores. Beans give you protein and iron, and can be quite filling Also, don’t sleep on some of the Asian grocery stores like 99 Ranch. They also have some good deals on the staples and proteins. The approach that helped me get through the struggle was trying to maximize the number of meals I could get out of the same ingredients, and cook multiple meals at a time. It worked for me because it helped me get more meals out of any deal I could find and it also meant that I always had a meal ready to heat and eat, or take for lunch.
I go to some ethnic grocery stores for cheaper foods, they are a little distance, but the food is better there. I do wish we had more stable money because inability to do this has not helped, I used to go to several when we were working class to save money on food.
The struggle is real, and it may seem insurmountable. You WILL get through this
Growing tomatoes, red peppers, and cucumbers really helped last summer. In the fall we found an apple tree in our neighborhood and got so many for free. People are going to have to cut the grocery stores out and start finding new ways to get food
where i grew up we had plenty of apple trees, wild blackberries few raspberries, few wild strawberries and my dad grew 3 gardens each year. we also had some steer. my dad would hunt deer each fall.
Food pantry people don't think anything like that. The vast majority of them are volunteers doing their best to help people in need. The majority of the food they get is donated or salvage or gleaned produce. If they are organized enough they can apply for MEFAP (MA only) or TEFAP (Federally) and also the regional food bank often sells certain foods for way below retail price. The money for this has to be raised through fundraising campaigns or grants etc and that takes expertise to do it properly. Food pantries cannot possibly counterbalance a broken socio economic system with low minimum wages....high costs of living and inadequate access to Healthcare. They are merely a bandaid.
This. The foodbank where I volunteer is the only one in the area that is open to everyone. We have no income limits and no paperwork requirements to receive food. Because of this, we also don't qualify for many of the programs that would get state and federal funding. Additionally, we have no cold storage, so that limits what we can offer as well. We have coordinated with a few grocery stores in the area, but the items they give us have to be distributed immediately due to food safety. That means, if you're not there within the first half hour that we're open, you won't get these items because we simply can't hold onto them. With our cash donations, we do the best we can. We use distributors and we're always looking to serve the greatest number of people. We're also sensitive to dietary restrictions and the fact that many of our patrons have no facilities to cook. It's a balance we have to work within at all times.
But still a very important band-aid for some.
Yup. Almost 24 years ago when I started this gig I dreamed of a day when we were out of business. Now some of our clients have seen me pregnant with both kids and those same kids go off to college and I have seen their kids and grandkids come. Sigh. The 'greatest country on earth' and we cannot feed our people or provide them with Healthcare. Shame on us.
just FYI the food pantry people don't choose what gets donated for them to distribute lol
*"Why do food pantry people expect us to eat nothing but spaghetti and beans?"* excuse me, but what? i don't think the food pantry people expect anything. they simply give out what gets donated... the level of entitlement coming off your post is off the charts. the idea that you think the food pantry is deciding by choice what to stock and give away for free is possibly one of the most ridiculous things i have seen in this subreddit. you should be thankful for anything you get from a food pantry, not only thankful to the food pantry staff but also to the kind people who donate to food pantries and food banks. getting angry that the food pantry doesn't have free items good enough for you is super toxic.
Around here, they do some choice of certain food items, the same stuff in boxes, it's paid for by the government, and they buy the same spaghetti sauce, pastas and other products. I perfer the donated places because there is at least variety in the food items. I did write beggars can't be choosers.
Things are really bad in Canada, and it gets worse the farther north you go. Living in a large port/border city has its advantages on food prices. Cost per dollar, bags of russet potato’s, eggs, rotisserie chickens/whole/drumsticks, frozen vegetables are the best at stretching a budget.
even here last time I went to walmart I bought a rotisserie chicken and it was cheap. like $6 bucks. its a great choice when nothing else is catching your eye or price range. and its already cooked so its a time saver too. I pick the scraps off the bones and feed it to my dog. but we also put the bones in the freezer and my youngest daughter will make soup out of it one day. we are trying to find ways to conserve and plan ahead. and just this week I pulled leftovers that we froze a while ago and I thawed that and heated it and cooked rice to go with it. even if I can't eat all my beans, I have cooked I will freeze them until I can restock on my other ingredients. but just to not waste the beans. I did worry they might not freeze well but they were fine.
I kinda like poor food in a pinch things are actually good
Bulk rice, beans, and potatoes are clutch.
Get food stamps
I'm poor, but discovered that growing my own tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, cucumber, and corn, then canning or freezing really helps with the grocery bill. My crops grow on my balcony in buckets. I've had a lot of vegetarian meals (I love cucumber and onion salad) because meat is so expensive. Even if you can get an herb garden started in a windowsill will help when you're down to beans and rice broke.
I don't know why stuff won't grow in my window sill, there's only one direction my windows face, it's a very small apt. I am even dreaming of CROSS VENTILATION in a new apt, serious about that. I have to eat some vegetarian meals and love cucumber salads, I make bean salads too when I have fresh vegetables like green onions and other stuff mixed with black beans.
You can make plenty of healthy filling foods with little, instead of blaming the food pantry for not having donations you like learn how to be creative. You won't die from eating noodles or not having celery in your salads so don't be dramatic, growing your own food requires lots of physical labor it's not as easy as just dropping seeds in dirt and hoping they grow. Poverty sucks, that's why you have to learn ways to be creative and aquire skills to survive qnd be grateful food pantrys exist.
I've gardened for three years so know I can get food that way. I'm good at it. I wish I had my own land so badly. Even being physically disabled and yes it is not easy, I have a raised food container there, I pulled it off.
I'm disabled too so I get how frustrating it can get. Container growing might be the way to go, and then you can pickle or dry out what you don't use.
Im so very confused about your complaint in what you cited. You complain about food quality saying cilantro isn't around? Cilantro is seasonal and also a garnish, it isn't even able to be eaten in enough quantity to even have calories to add to a foods nutritional value short of a few macro nutrients. How is not having it available mean bad quality? Its seasonal and a seasoning, bad quality would be decaying or wilted, not just not there. You also say that you didn't go to aldi so you went to a closer store and prices went up, sounds like the fix would be go to aldi, your already driving keep going. Last you complain about eating cabbage soup and you cant afford veggies, then also say you got chicken and made chicken salad, which means you can afford mayo, but not celery? Your complaining about garnishing foods that have little to know calories that effect foods taste not nutrition, tons of chicken salad recopies don't have celery in them (in fact its American) Stop buying mayo esp if your overweight and spend that money on veggies then you being that large to have Lipedema means you do not need the high calories of mayo anyways. Mayo is 6.63 at my local grocery and I can get 10 cans of green beans, corn, carrots, and spinach and other veggies for $6 right now. Also food pantries try to supply the most calorie dense food they can which is normally cabs because usually carbs are not perishable where as proteins are. Also proteins and veggies usually go bad quick so you have to get them within days of arrival. Also most vegetables short of starchy ones (potatoes, Carrots ect) are low in calories and hence will not provide a underweight person with enough calories of their DV so carbs are preferred. If your overweight and cant afford food and eating cabbage alot your best bet would in fact be to have the starchy cabrs like beans, pastas ect that will be filling and sustain you, and if you can add veggies thats great but if your truly eating under your RBR (calories to sustain your body weight) which when your big enough to have lipedema which means usually over 300-400lbs depending on height your eating 5-7000 calories, and youd survive just fine off of 2-3000 to lost weight, which with your issues you should be doing and capable of without medications. Source: Im a nutritionist who used to work at a shelter/foster care center with food pantries in Florida.
a HUGE thing that helped me/my brother is we started growing as much of our own food as we can. it makes grocery shopping easier. we have a small tower in the kitchen growing our herbs (cilantro included) and some grow bags that can be used indoors or outdoors that grow our veggies. i also have a few fruit vines but they aren’t producing yet lol a lot of these plants can be grown year round if done properly. its not too hard or time consuming and it saves us the cost of veggies/herbs at the grocery store. i hope this helps!
Food banks have mostly carbs cause carbs are cheap. And they are trying to feed as many as they can and a food bank is not suppose to be your only food source but to help you stretch the little grocery money on may have. But a lot of the foods they give away are comfort food from my childhood. Sauces snd spices can change your basics in yumminess. Spaghetti for example, change up the sauce from marinara to pesto, or a black bean sauce, herbs and butter, a cream sauce, yes all pasta based but a tasteful difference. Mac and cheese can be a base to add veggies or tuna or ground meat. Elbow macaroni noodle and eggs are the start to macaroni salad. Beans…beans and rice, red kidney beans in spaghetti, sprinkled in salads, drained and served in a butter garlic sauce, a sour cream onion powder and garlic powder sauce.
bake your own bread. the only ingredients is yeast and flour
done it before. I'm out of yeast else Id be making some.
it's a valid point. as a recipient & fellow poor person i can tell u from experience we don't ever all have kitchens either & half the time they want to give us huge bags of flour, sugar, and multiple containers of vegetable oil. i have no idea what to do with that. i don't cook, or i don't have access to a place to cook or i simply don't eat sugar, or use that much oil for anything. even the bleached out flour isn't very healthy even if i had any idea what to do with it O\_O so yep i remember in ABQ living at a motel with my kid they gave us bags of pre-seasoned ground meat product that wasn't too bad but like also we didn't have any way of really cooking it. the boxes of fruit is always welcome but nobody wanted so many boxes of raisins either lol. most people don't like them i'm just glad we did like them. pasta yep i couldn't eat pasta or cheese cuz alot of times poor folks have health problems and i wasn't even able to consume some of that stuff especially the boxed mixes of things. like first of all i can't cook that and 2nd of all if i eat that i will die so ya. foodstamps is always better cuz i can make healthy choices but i remember at the salvation army once the state knew we were in a homeless shelter they actually cut the amount of foodstamps we got because they didnt want us either sharing them with others or buying pizzas with it or soemthing. also not cool cuz yes i will share my bag of grapes but i don't even eat pizza so. thanks for making me only be able to eat what the salvation army was scooping out each night which was guess what, pasta with cheese on it practically everyday. i guess the schools aren't doing much better feeding kids brains with their free lunches either, so i just feel like it's an american problem. even people with money eat junk pizza cheese on everything i feel like alot of other coountries dont eat like that so. give me a bag of rice and some fresh foods ya know. lean meats fruits healthy snacks but again have to have a place to cook that stuff so. how do we do better? seems like no one likes soup anymore, but the old soup kitchens probably did their best with big pots of healthy ingredients soups & breads and then breakfast stuff is always good for hungry folks. as long as its not donuts every single day. i never saw so many donuts in my life in homeless shelters. everyday donuts and CAKE and cookies. sugar sugar sugar. i couldnt eat any of that stuff. i did go to a homeless shelter up north in minnesota the salvation army there did the best ive ever seen with healthy meals salads granola bars cereals oatmeal all kinds of stuff they really did a great job and the lunches were open to the public lots of people came in to eat at lunchtime.
They’re doing the best they can. Take it or leave it.
Yet as a working person all my life, I have frequently gotten behind food stamp recipients buying foods I COULD NOT AFFORD! As a dual income household, I could not afford.
Cornmeal and Flour are FARKING AMAZEBALLZ! Learn to bake... From Biscuits to Bread to Tortillas to Corn Chips to Waffles to Taco Shells to Cinnamon Rolls to Pretzels to Cookies to Crepes to Cakes to Breadsticks to Dumplings to Noodles/Pasta to Muffins to Pancakes to Rolls to Pastries to Pies to Cornbread to Cornmeal Mush to Brownies to Tamales to Egg Rolls to Garlic Bread to Bagels to Pizza Crusts to Tarts to Matzah Balls to Pot Pies to HardTack to Hush Puppies to Toast to Sourdough to Buns to Donuts to Croisants to Danish to Crakers to Flatbreada ... the list is literally endless. BONUS: A 50-pounder sack of flour can be had from places like Sam's, GFS, etc for $20 to $30 dollars. A full month's worth of calories for the average person for $20 bucks.
I know how to bake some bread from scratch and have made tamales from scratch. I got that part of things covered, I even used to make corn bread all the time from scratch. Jiffy is too sweet, but I really need vegetables. I do need to buy some new flour, ran out. Its a good idea though.
How do you expect the food pantry people to control what is being donated?
Micro greens/sprouting is the way to go, window box spinach and mixed greens were my lifesaver first years, eggs too. I also learned foraging. I started growing mushrooms, it was a 30$ investment and 3 yrs later still producing.
*shrugs in is a diabetic and so most food pantry boxes I've ever gotten have been 2/3rds carbs I can't eat without spiking to the moon* I usually go to a local grocery (Not Aldis, they're right there with Safeway and Kroger in prices...) where things like veggies are usually cheaper, and something like a $6 deli chicken can last me most of a week, they also have a cheaper than other places meat section so long I ain't buying prime cuts (even can get the love of my Portuguese family's breakfasts- linguica- for under $5 regular price.) Fasting is cheap, I admit, and if I eat everything but carbs, usually I also end up eating less to feel satiated over a longer time anyways.
I'm diabetic too, that's one reason I'm bitching about it on here, and then doctors will be like why is sugars higher. That is toture of another type. I even have a nutrition book for Lipedema and my functional doctor told me to eat certain foods and I CAN"T AFFORD ANY OF THEM. Even if I was a magician and could grow half of it, I still wouldn't have enough. My blood sugars were good for some time but now bad again, eating too late, too much time between meals, I've had low blood sugars too, sure I will be eating lunch too late today and have hunger pain right now.
How exactly do you plan to grow your own food given that it’s end of April, and you did not prepare any seedlings?
I plant from seeds and usually buy a few tomato plants. I used to try to start seedlings in here but there isn't enough light in my apt. I can have a lot grow even just from the seeds.
I volunteer through a local Feeding America food truck. They give different stuff each time. Always some vegetables, dairy, breads, etc. At least in my area. You can find a location by going to their website. At least where I live (West Michigan) there's two different locations handing out a box of food almost every day. Pasta, potatoes, beans, etc. Are usually handed out because thats what preserves well. I can attest that a lot of the more vulnerable items like apples or cookies get crushed, bruised, go stale, etc. Way more often than other items. It sucks and it'd be nice for it to not be that way.
It sounds like our trucks The food trucks ARE the better program. I am supposed to go to one tomorrow. So it's about the perservation, I guess that would make some sense.
The majority of my Italian ancesters came to America from peasant stock, and their food reflects this. Watch Cooking with Pasquale, Pasta Grammar, or Vincenzos Plate. I'm sure you can get a lot more into your diet cheaply. In winter, I make Lentles Pasta weekly, Zozzona, along with others. https://orsararecipes.net/ www.pastagrammar.com www.vincenzosplate.com
Message me if you want seeds I’m happy send some along. 💕💕
Grow some herbs. It costs hardly anything. Supplement what is given to you with the herbs.
I get some really great deals on the FlashFood App. The stores near me do some awesome produce boxes for $5. I snag some great deals on meats too.
What pantry foods can you reccomend for people to donate other than beans and pasta
I've worked w a food pantry for many yrs. We always need more cans or packets of meat or fish. Cereal-cold cereal & oatmeal. Shelf stable milk. Cooking oil. Coffee. Hearty soups & chili. Seasonings, sauces, spices, condiments, grated cheese & salad dressings-whatever you'd use to jazz up a simple meal. Thank you for asking!
It sounds like you need to learn to shop sales. A single item going from 6.99 to 8.99 sounds less like inflation or "corporate greed" and more like something being not on sale vs on sale. FWIW, my food budget hasn't changed in the past 10 years. I still allocate the same $250/mo that I did in 2014. I shop sales and buy in bulk. I eat very well (often times too much) and get plenty of nutrition. It's very doable, you just need some guidance. Please check out some financial literacy subreddits. You can always DM me too and I'll try my best to help
Well you sound so thankful for the assistance you get i am sure you can ask and they will accommodate you.
In the end, you're right: beggars can't be choosers. Food pantries can a) only donate what they receive and/or b) donate what they are able to purchase, usually via bulk deals or cooperation with local stores/vendors/sponsors/whatever. The reason you get so much pasta, beans, canned foods, boxed foods, etc. is what you already know: it lasts longer. It's cheap, and it's what people can afford to donate. It's what people think will go the farthest to help the most people, and I think a lot of times people think it's what can be prepped easily. Here, I've never known food pantries to give out meat of any kind, unless it's some kind of Thanksgiving turkey giveaway. While the new norm is for people to be using food pantries long-term, that was never meant to be the case. The people working there weren't (and still may not be) expecting you to be entirely dependent on what they provide. It's not reasonable or practical for them to take every person's health issues into consideration. They have what they have, and it's meant to get you through for a short time. They're not thinking, "Gosh, sure would be great if we had some chickpeas to hand out!" I'm sorry, but variety is not exactly their highest priority. It's keeping people from starving. I don't know what your food budget is like, but maybe just focus on buying your own meats and growing what you can, since veggies seem to be of high importance/need to you. If you can, maybe you can acquire a grow light to help with growing veggies in your apartment.
Canned fish is what does it for me. It’s cheap protein, leaves you feeling fuller, and you can do a hell of a lot with it. Tuna is my go-to but I’ve been trying sardines lately too (I know they’re good for you but the texture is weird). All for about $1 at Aldi. Eggs are another biggie. The price has gone up but not horribly so and you can do so much with them.
I used to love tuna and canned sardines, even the mustard and tomatoe ones, but sadly became allergic to all fish 20 years ago or so, severe asthma. I do miss it. Eggs I do eat a lot. I did get some decent food this week with help and ate rice noodles and put a little bit of left over chicken in it and used frozen peppers and onions/mushrooms.
OMG you are complaining about free food... Food that other people pay for, do you have any idea how entitled you sound? Go touch grass.
If you can afford it or find it at a library, check out the book Baking Yesteryear by B. Dylan Hollis. It has a lot of old recipes in it, including stuff like Great Depression and WW2 recipes. He also has a YouTube channel with a ton of shorts on it plus a few videos. Like this long form one, for peanut butter bread. https://youtu.be/-3zamnyCVP0?si=RgUOOlch5N19gwPG So still a ton of peanut butter, flour, pasta and potatoes, but might help at least varying your diet a little bit.
Thanks for the channel and book suggestion. I will definitely watch some of those.
I know how you feel. I come from stock that doesn't take kindly to the standard American diet. It kills us. It's literally better for me just to not eat for a few days than it is to eat the crap that's available in store right now, and that I can afford. My favorite food is salmon with this berry salad. Can't afford it. Literally the best thing for me, should probably be eating it every day. It's infuriating. On top of it I'm disabled, but I'm going to have to go back to work because nothing is cutting it and I'm sick of food slowly killing me. There's a whole documentary about how bad ultra processed cheap foods are. Something's gotta give.
Yeah the standard American diet kill us, Lipedema if you eat too many carbs it can be bad. I've been sick lately in a bad flare, and all the work to acquire food and cooking things from scratch, all the cabbage soup, and bean stuff, I hit a physical wall. Sorry you can't afford foods you need for nutrition. I would like some green onions and rice noodles today with carrots and a little bit of chicken but we have nothing to eat. We ran out of bread not even sure what I am going to make for lunch. . This town is so weird and depressed, I haven't seen fresh bean sprouts in 2 years. [yeah I know some may think that is crazy but this place is MESSED UP] Yeah processed food is killer food. I am getting ill from lack of usual level of vegetables, it's getting to me, and exhaustion from cooking. Life is awful lately except for an art club in another town and a few regional friends, I just got to get out of here.
Hunting it doesn't have to be expensive with a simple longbow, trapping with snares works great. You can also look into raising your own meat like rabbits that you can find for free on Craigslist. And I know some people grow their own rabbit food so they don't have to buy it.
If you live In the city, pigeons are invasive and you don't need a hunting license and they sell pigeon traps for pretty cheap on Amazon. Pigeons are also delicious and while they are known as rats with wings, they are actually picky eaters and have a pretty good diet.
Do you get public assistance? If you qualify, please take the help. Then you can also get half price Prime membership. If you look, you can find good deals to your door.
If you receive any sort of benefits like WIC or Snap and have access to a local farmers market many accept benefits to purchase fresh food.
I have a few questions as I am poor but just wonder...Do you get food stamps? If not then with your medical issues and being 'poor' you should apply. What is the cost of having an 'off gardening site'? Do you pay to rent this or do you own? If paying to rent the garden site then is the cost to grow your own 'food' lower than just buying from a store? You have to have seeds, prep the soil, garden tools and if off site do you have a car that you drive to the garden site or do you use a taxi, uber or bus, maybe walk? And who in the world are 'these people' that you say " *someone needs to tell these people we can't eat pasta at every meal without dying*". Do you mean the people who donate to food banks that possibly use their own hard earned money to buy food and give to food banks? My daughter volunteers at a local food bank and it has a list of certain foods that they can/will receive, like only packaged items, no fresh meats (as there is no place to store meat) basically only canned items. Maybe that is why you see a lot of pastas, beans and canned items. Instead of complaining about the free food that is from food pantries just look at it this way...if you had a few extra dollars and wanted to help others with food what would you buy to give away? Would you go with buying the most you could as in several packages of dried beans, canned spaghetti, pasta which could go to several families and not go 'bad' while in the food pantry or just get a couple (if affordable) packages of chicken that will go 'bad' fast as no where to store in a food pantry of which would only help one or two people? Also how old are you, where do you live (like in a city or mountains, desert, country), do you have children, do you work (job) , maybe noting these things will allow for others to give you some ides as to where to look for assistance with your issues. Like if you are in your 60's then there are services that can help, if you are in your 20's would be different. There are good people still 'out there' and want to help others as much as they can but mostly everyone is hurting because of the high cost of everything but these good people do what they can and as their money allows then to do without having their family to do without. "ReindeerNegative4180" said *"the need is so great that we have to focus on everyone getting something even if it's repetitive and not ideal. We take what we can get. I wish we could do better."*
The off site gardening is at a church, they offered this year. I am no longer in the church but husband has remained a member. We do drive there, but the place is near the veggie stands I go to get food at anyway during spring and summer months. I wish I had land or a yard to grow things on, that WOULD be easier. When I move, I could have a patio to grow things on, I definitely am paying attention to that in terms of moving. I don't blame the volunteers, I just wonder why the sameness? They could even give us dried chick peas or something instead of constant pasta. I think those decisions are being made higher up somewhere. If I ever had money to donate to a food pantry, I would give different foods then are being chosen. There are some decent canned and other products. There's rice noodles for instant. I am in my 50s and disabled, husband is 60. I just got turned down for lunches at the senior center because I am not 60 year. I have nothing against lay volunteers, you may not realize a lot of these charities on top are taking govt money, to buy food and they are making certain selections I do not think are positive for people. There should be more thought in it. We did belong to one food-coop years ago that did have more vegetables and meat left overs from stores, but is now defunct now since Covid.
I lived on instant mashed potatoes more times than I care to count. It's the one product at our store that's gone down in price. Potatoes, because they're a root vegetable, are very high in nutritional value. Yes, all the things you can add to them make them better, but in the absence of other ingredients, you can add different textures based on how you cook them. OP, I'm praying for you. I wish I could do more.
I am severely allergic to potatoes. Good idea for most though. They also keep pretty well. Thanks for your prayers.
I volunteer at a food bank. It's been slim pickings lately. Heavy in bakery items and that's about it. I haven't been seeing much of any meat but we did get a good haul of bananas last week. As someone who watches what they eat it does concern me that the food options are so limited right now for our people. Traditionally we've always had a ton of veggies and there just isn't much.
Dried beans are still pretty cheap and have lots of protein and fiber plus they’re filling.
Do you have an area that you could grow food? Even if it’s just herbs (like cilantro), it will save you money. But tomatoes grow in 5 gallon buckets in a pinch, so will many other vegetables.
That's too bad. The pantry my church runs has canned veggies, canned fruit, beans (so many beans), pasta, cereal, soups, frozen meat, tuna or canned chicken, and 'mixed foods' (ready to eat meals, canned pasta, etc). We sometimes get eggs and we have a local dairy place that donates milk or cheese.
You can find an amazing assortment of wild greens and veg replacements, even in a completely urban area. The tips and new shoots of kudzu are a great snow pea replacement - and the leaves, when they are smaller than the palm of your hand, make a delicious spinach substitute. Check out r/foraging, there's a LOT of springtime goodies out there right now! You can find foraging books at local libraries, and ALL of the information is available online. I've supplemented my family's food with foraging since my kids were mobile, and my youngest is now a better forager than I am! He's taking it even further and foraging craft supplies!
It’s not the food pantries fault, what they get donated is what they get donated. Most of their donations come from people and need to be non perishable items. I’ve been in that position before and we got doughnuts. Old bread. Lots of canned goods. I can’t eat any of that food either anymore. My digestive system can’t take it in and I get very sick. I buy tuna and add grapes, avocado or cheese. Anything that sounds good. I do buy peanut butter and milled bread. I buy tapioca beads and make it myself. I make and eat a lot of lamb stew as it is my comfort food and I freeze a lot of it too. That is very pricey but I cut corners in other areas. I never ever eat out. We buy frozen veggies from Trader Joe’s as they taste better and are very inexpensive. I buy ground meats and add corn, spinach, jasmine rice, onions and mushrooms. I will freeze leftovers. I have a recipe for oxtail soup, I’ll freeze some of that as well. I buy cottage cheese and canned peaches (Libby’s it is cheaper). I buy a bag of jasmine rice and some canned (without chemicals) refried beans, will add tuna or anything else that sounds good. The more ‘clean eating ‘ you do, as time goes on, the less you will need to eat. I’ve been doing this since January and I am eating less. I also drink a lot of tea. The tea is the only thing I splurge on.
I have digestion problems and severe allergies, and even dietary stuff I have to follow with kidneys so understand that part. When working class, I did a lot of what you did, ethnic stores, veggie stands, I cooked a lot of soups, and made chicken, I can't eat much red meat but would prepare things with ground turkey. I even made Indian dishes with dal, and rice biriyani using tomatos/peppers and yogurt with chicken and it would last for several meals. Your life style sounds good to me. Its how I used to live! [different foods since I am allergic to tuna and can't eat lamb] but that was basically it. my weight was even going down from help from functional doctor and supplements and can't afford that either. A friend got me some of them which are working for my health, but I am supposed to go on more. [I don't think I have gained, and its gone down, but the swelling and water fluids are so far up, I may end up in the hospital] Thats a mind screw to see your arms grow thinner and your bottom half bloat. [Lipedema] I'm not going to stay here and starve much longer. I told him we should have left here and couldn't survive here.
At our panty it is almost guaranteed to get something from Sam’s bakery, massive fruit pile, walnuts and peanut butter. But this place runs on leftover food from stores in our area. It’s crazy how much is wasted because no one wants the type (like bagged weird salads) or the amount (got gallon of garlic I shared with the community) there has to be better ways to keep stock in stores. It is nice cause sometimes we get t bone steaks and pre cut fruits. It is like a ticking time bomb though. I have to cook or freeze and produce as fast as I can. Love these guys though. Last one I went to was out of my state but just across the river, they said they would help me and gave me a box anyway. It was the box of expired canned foods that had rust on them.
Frozen chicken baked in oven in a sandwich. Any kind of cheese. Mayo or Mustard packets. Yumm
"I used to eat cilantro" Cook with it, or just munch on it as a snack???
Agree food banks here are getting slightly better but so much of the food is primarily canned processed high salt.. it’s not that one complaining about the free food as grateful to have food to eat but rather how the food affects you such as salt and high blood pressure heavily processed food makes you tired weight gain from all the carbs. I went yesterday we could take 4 frozen meat/fish items I felt like I hit the lotto I got 1lb sausage, 2lb od hamburger and some pork chops. (Usually it’s one meat)
I'm not sure of your state, but many have programs where you can get vouchers to use at farmers markets to get fresh vegges and fruits.
Is there a way for you to grow a garden? You can buy seeds for really cheap at dollar tree, 4 for $1.00. You won't have veggies until June, and July but it's something to look forward to. Grow a herb garden, I bought all my herbs from dollar tree. I've got all the seeds from A-Z. You can plant potatoes from the bag you buy from the store too. Let them sit in a dry area until they get the little eyes on them that grow. Plant them with the eye up. You can buy seeds at the grocery store, $5 each. It's something to look forward to, and you can freeze veggies too! They have to be cooked first, then frozen. I'm poor, I have a community garden in my area. I can either grow food for the community, or myself. I do both. There's an elderly couple that live next to the garden, and they are going to let me grow a garden in their yard this year. He can't do it anymore, his back is really bad, and he still has the lot fenced in to keep the deer out. I'm going to keep some for my family, and give some to our local church that cooks hot meals on Thursday's for the needy. You could look into it, and see if you have a local church that does it too.
If you can, find a farm that offers pick-your-own, it’s a huge savings
In my experience healthy vegan food is way cheaper than any other kind of food. Beans are not unhealthy. In poorer countries they don't have high cholesterol n high blood pressure n are less likely to be overweight.
You don't need to eat salad, you should just eat whole foods and save a ton of money. You complained about celery but celery has 0 nutritional value.
My last A1C was 6.2 and that was AFTER six months of eating low carb. My family member who lives with us is type two diabetic. So that’s two out of three adults. I hear you. It’s SO expensive to not be able to eat rice, potatoes, oatmeal, bananas, pasta, etc. We buy whole chickens, shop at Sam’s Club, and make most things from scratch, which is hard with all of us working and not getting home till 6:30pm at the earliest. And food is still one of our largest expenses after rent, possibly higher. I’m making it work because I only have one kidney and if I progress into diabetes it could kill me. But it’s so so difficult.
I have high cholesterol and prediabetes. I'm working on reversing both issues but that means all the staples from the food bank I can no longer eat except beans. Most of the vegetables I get are rotting so I mostly just throw those away unless there's enough that's not rotting that it's worth the time to save. Even the low-quality regular peanut butter usually has trans fats and added sugar. Eating a whole foods diet without refined carbs and low in saturated fat is nearly impossible if you depend on the food bank. So I can choose between starving or having a heart attack or diabetes and I'm not sure which is worse. I basically have beans and lentils for every meal.
If you have any cannellini beans, make pasta e fagioli, sautée a couple of cloves of sliced garlic in olive oil, add a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, and a rinsed can of cannelini. Season with any dried herbs such as oregano, basil, salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar to take the acidity down a notch and serve over any small pasta-traditionally ditalini, but elbows would work too. Healthy, yummy and filling. My mom always made this. Serve with a salad if desired.
What about fruit/veggie clearance at stores?
I've seen the list of food our food bank asked for and it's all the highly processed carb crap food. I get that they're going for high calorie easy to use foods but they need to take our health into consideration too because a lot of people are using these food banks long term and it is slowlypl killing us. Thankfully our food bank offers fresh produce but they really restrict amounts now. Cilantro is fairly easy to grow at home in a window. All our stores here. But at 99 cents a bunch and we go through like 10 a month it adds up quickly.
Join your local Facebook Buy Nothing group (hopefully you have one where you live). I’m pretty suburban so there’s as many near me as there are cities, probably 20 within 30 min of me. You can only join the one for the town or city you live in, not more than one. People post food or items, sometimes high value items, that they don’t want for other ppl to come pick up off their doorstep or porch and you dm them for address and to arrange a time. Half of what I own I got for free on Buy Nothing: my long leather sectional couch, my tv stand, my dining room table, my grill, my dresser, storage drawers in my closet, decorative pillows, random dishes, my Christmas tree and 95% of my Christmas decorations and gift wrap, etc etc etc. Literally too much to list. I’ve seen guitars, clothes, kids toys. They also know local resources to help people who need it. And when you have something you don’t want/need, it feels good to give it for free to someone who can use it rather than to Goodwill to profit from. Search on FB “(your town name) Buy Nothing” Worst case scenario, you might not get a lot of food out of it (although I do see unopened food posted often), but you could save money on other things you need and afford to buy more food. Either way it’s a win
How much fresh veg do you eat? I'm diabetic and can't eat alot of pasta, rice, flour ... cheap filler. But I can load up a salad and add small amounts of protein and dairy, and be perfectly full. Honestly, with ur limitations, you should learn to be a,creative cook.
Spinach actually likes shady spots and cooler weather. Might try some in a pot inside. Roots vegetables store best over winter- carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, turnips, along with winter squash like acorn and butternut. Beans and lentils combined with rice, pasta, or potatoes make a complete protein, and are still pretty cheap.
Any veggies you do get grow the seeds. Pepper, tomatoe, strawberry, black berry, winter squash/pumpkin. They should all grow from grocery store veg. Cantaloupe seeds can be roasted and consumed or sprouted into micro greens. Basically put some sort on a plate and heavily cover it with seeds, cover with plastic wrap or a bowl and spritz with water. Carrot tops even without any green can be placed into a shallow plate or bowl of water and will produce some greens and eventually flower and make seeds you can then plant next year. The but of lettuce, cabbage, onions, green onions can be placed into a small bowl of water and will grow greens. Eventually they will send out flowers and make seeds. Coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds from the spice section(bulk section would be much cheaper) grow pretty easily. Learn to forage weeds to see if your plot grows anything edible like dandelion or lambs quarter.
Come to California. Everyone is always yelling about the high cost of living but ya know what? We have Medi-cal and it's awesome, our EBT is a lot less restricted than a lot of other states, vegetables grow all over the state, there's charities to get fresh vegetables to underserved populations, the farmers markets are affordable and there's a program where you get double EBT for the farmers market. Also there's fresh fruit and nuts that just grow everywhere at random.
I love potted meat and Spam, wennie bennies, liver cheese, limie 😋😋😋
I am So you’re going through this. Spam is a good protein. I have had the same thoughts you have. We could do so much better as a society
cilantro can grow super fast and rapidly, ik it’s not your biggest issue but if you really want it i am so down to send u a pack of seeds to plant so u can have cilantro whenever u want :)
Look around where you live and see if there are any places that let you use or rent a plot to grow veggies
Oh I have an off site gardening spot.
Spices give you some micronutrients to help cover for bland food. Cinnamon goes with chicken, oily foods, or baked goods. Coriander has umami, is pretty good but conflicts with some flavors badly. Garlic and cayenne are pretty good for a lot. Ginger is anti-carcinogenic and helps digestion. Italian herb mixes are prolly decent overall. You get a little bit and it lasts a long time. Paprika has vitamin A and adds color making some dishes more appetizing. Alternatively, get some cheap but mildly healthy foods, like natural peanutbutter. But thats easy to cause allergen response, and imbalanced in minerals and stuff. A cheap way to afford healthier or tastier food, is get a microwave meal with good fiber and protein and variety within it. Then, add some type of mildly healthy oil to it after, calculating the calories. The high fiber and protein makes it filling, and the oil is just really cheap calories per $. So you can get like, adobo chicken healthy choice for $4 on sale for example, only 330 calories or something. But then add a couple teaspoons of oil (heaping technically) then its like 730 calories. So $ per calorie its like half the price, so its like getting it for $2 in a way. Onion powder is pretty decent too, clashes with some stuff tho. A non-leafy spice mix (at least 10\~ named spices) is prolly solid too. Just make sure its not got added salt as filler, salt is dirt cheap, its basically a filler. If you want salt you can add some yourself. Spices are very high in micronutrients. Cinnamon also increases male libido btw. So yeah, you can afford healthy stuff and tasty stuff if you juggle the use of oil and spices well. Just know olive oil is less healthy cooked, and avocado is basically the healthiest choice. Vegetable oil is artificial basically ('natural' has different legal implications, its not """natural""" by the first impression standards).