Food Banks and Grocery Stores
You probably have noticed that somewhere near the front of your local grocery store there are bags or boxes of food that you can buy, that will then be sent to your local food bank.
Now it is a sad, but unfortunate, reality, that in a country as wealthy as ours, people need food banks to get through the week or month. Nevertheless, it is a fact.
We just returned from our local Sobey's and saw the bank of bags that one could buy to be sent to the local food bank. Here is what was in them for $10:
- one can of chunk light tuna
- 1 box of mac and cheese
- 5 cans of chunky soup
Now if you shopped for these items, you would probably find that they would cost you no more, but maybe less, than the $10 that you are being charged for the bag.
This means that the store is making its normal profit from your charity!
I don't want to pick on Sobey's. In fact our other local store, Fortino's, (owned by Loblaws) is in some ways worse. They put so much stuff like crackers and other boxed goods in their bags, that the local food bank ships it to another adjacent food bank because they are inundated with the stuff.
How do I know this? My wife volunteers at our local food bank.
So, you say, what can I do?
In this case there is an answer.
We do NOT buy food for our local food bank. We do regularly give CASH!
Food banks can take the cash, and buy WHOLESALE the actual items that are needed by families. Healthy items like fruits and vegetables and fish and chicken, and staples.
So for that $10 you pay at the grocery store the food bank can buy roughly:
- 2 cans of tuna
- 10 cans of soup
- some fresh fruit and vegetables.
And
YOU get a TAX DEDUCTION if you ask for it.
Win for the food bank. Win for you. 'Dommage' not as big a win for Loblaws or Sobey's or whichever big grocery store you shop at.
For once you can actually make a difference by your actions.
(Please note - we have no axe to grind with the big grocery chains; we shop regularly at one or the other. We just don't EVER buy their food bank bags)