April 17, 2006
Junk Food Clogs Food Banks
It's hardly a secret that the American people tend towards the larger side. It's even less a secret that obesity correlates with poverty -- the poorer the American, the more likely that they will eat unhealthy foods. And as the Washington Times reported yesterday, donations to local food banks seem not to be helping the problem any.
The Times reported that local food banks and soup kitchens are increasingly dealing with donations of candy bars, cookies and other junk foods, leaving the region's 630,000 people at risk of hunger with few healthy eating options. The Capital Area Food Bank admitted as much in the article, stating, "Maybe half of our donations are snacks or less-nutritional foods -- cookies, crackers, pudding." The dire circumstance at some food banks pits health against hunger, according to the executive director of the Maryland Food Bank, who stated:
I would sell my soul to bring in a [donated] truckload of tuna fish or peanut butter, but it's not [realistic]. Our mission is to provide enough food for every hungry Marylander, and we are so far away from that...The question isn't if the bank receives enough healthy food, it's if the bank receives enough food donations of any kind.Let this be a reminder to us all -- M&M's might be cheap and easy to donate, but they don't seem to be doing a whole lot for the region's hungriest residents and the food banks that help feed them.
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Getting donations of junk food are better than no donations at all. I guess they can ask for healthier food, but I don't think that will stop people from donating what they have all along, junk food.
at least it's not Soylent Green...
mmmmm...m&m's. And, a nice ad for the Take 5 candy bar on a page about junk food.
Also, the unhealthy additives in all those snack foods give them a longer shelf-life, which is a great boon to food banks. Snack foods are also immediately consumable, as opposed to donations of fresh produce or meats, which, though healthier, would be a logistical challenge to process, store, prepare, and distribute. The unfortunate reality that both food banks and low-income people face is that, if you want to stretch a budget to procure the most calories for a dollar, junk food is more practical. Five dollars can buy over 2,000 calories worth of McDonalds menu items, but maybe 200 calories worth of tomatoes or spinach. And that's why so many poor children are obese, yet also show symptoms of severe malnutrition.
I know many folks at the area farmers' markets donate what they can't take back home to DC Central Kitchen. Somedays they have dozens of 50-gallon bags full of spinach, greens, tomatoes, apples, etc.
Do the additives in junk food give snacks a longer shelf life than that of canned vegitables, chili, beans, etc.? Donating a few cans of peas, corn or turkey chili is not really any more impractical or expensive, just heavier.
I volunteered down in La. after katrina -- someone donated a couple tons of chocolate. I'm sure they felt great doing so, but it all ended up being stacked at the back of our warehouse, melting in the 100 degree heat.
Canned goods, by the pallete, and water are the way to go.