What's for dinner at the food bank, revisited

As the way people donate to the food bank has changed, so has what the food bank is delivering to clients.

As part of what was then known as the CBC Turkey Drive, in 2008 I visited the Upper Room Food Bank in Charlottetown. I was curious about what exactly went into a box for people who needed its services, and what I could put on the table from what was in that box. So I asked them to put one together for my family of four.

Interested in how that might have changed more than a decade later, I asked again last week. Staff took a box and unpacked it, listed its contents and sent along a few pictures, then packed it back up to be handed out to a food bank client.

There was a lot in common between the two boxes. In an astonishing coincidence, both contained a box of Honeycombs cereal. There were cans of tuna and poultry, canned soup, canned vegetables, crackers.

There were little oddities in both: packages of Dream Whip and Shake 'n Bake in 2008; a can of sweetened condensed milk and a jar of olives in 2022.

Boxes of macaroni and cheese featured in both, but there were five boxes in 2008 and just one box in 2022.

Food bank executive director Mike MacDonald is amused Honeycombs landed in both boxes.

"We actually usually don't get Honeycombs," he told me after I went through the crate. "It's usually Cheerios or Corn Flakes or something."

The food bank is also seeing fewer oddities in donations, he said, with people appearing to be more often buying things specifically to donate.

"At one point we were getting, I would say, a box of Shake 'n Bake with some of the Shake 'n Bake missing from it, so maybe somebody bought something, tried it, didn't like it, and donated the rest to us," said MacDonald. (Opened packages are a no-no, of course.)

Now they are more likely to see a big influx of cans of soup when one of the grocery chains has them on sale.

The food bank is also being more mindful about what goes into boxes. Some items — hot sauce, for example, or large bags of raisins (a recent donation) —  will be set out in the lobby for people to take if they're interested.

"[We're] just trying to make sure that that food really gets to someone that's going to use it," said MacDonald.

Apples and carrots and cheese

But the biggest difference comes in the supply of fresh food.

In 2008, there was a bag of potatoes and a dozen eggs, and the possibility of some milk because I had children in the house. Only the possibility, however — there was none actually available on that particular day.

This year's box had the potatoes and eggs, but also three litres of milk. In addition there was fresh chicken, carrots, turnips, apples, yogurt and cheese.

To say this made a difference in my experimental dinner plans seems like an understatement.

In 2008, I was thinking of a ham potato scallop (with canned ham), Jamaican rice and peas (though there was nothing to flavour it with). There was pasta with tomato sauce (add some canned mushroom?). No protein in that option (or much else in the way of nutrition) but bellies would be full. There was a loaf of white bread and tuna for sandwiches.

Nutritionally we thought it was important but also they're expensive.— Mike MacDonald, Upper Room Food Bank

The first thing that struck my eye in 2022 (after the weird Honeycomb coincidence) was a small, whole chicken. That, with the potatoes and carrots and turnip, can make for a nutritious soup good for a couple of dinners and some lunches. A casserole with milk and potatoes and the chicken breasts, maybe those olives on the side, would be good for another family meal.

One of the jars of pasta sauce was a meat sauce, another protein option.

Fresh apples! When you're struggling to pull together money for groceries, fresh fruit is going to be one of the first items crossed off the list in February. So that's nice. 

Changing priorities

MacDonald said expanding the number of food boxes that contain milk has been a priority over the years. Currently a litre of milk goes in for every person in the home.

"We've been extremely fortunate in the past year," he said. "Dairy Farmers [of P.E.I.] has donated a tremendous amount of milk to us."

The other priority has been fresh food.

"In the last number of years, our emphasis was really to increase fresh or perishable items," he said. "Nutritionally we thought it was important, but also they're expensive for our clients."

That change has been made possible by a shift toward cash donations people make to the food bank. That allows it to go out and buy the fresh food it needs as the need arises, and not just depend on sporadic bulk donations.

These cash donations are coming on top of the more traditional packaged food donations. So the typical food box going out the door is bigger, meant to supply a family for five to seven days, rather than the three to five days of 2008.

Clients are still limited to one visit per month, though.

The food bank remains an emergency service, said MacDonald, to help people through tough times.

"Nobody wants to come to a food bank. Nobody wants to ask for help. Our goal is to make this as comfortable as we can for somebody," he said.

"We're not here to judge. The only thing we want to do is to help."