It's a tradeable ration system. One of the best possible ways to equitibly distribute scarce goods. If we were serious about trying to reduce fossil fuel consumption, that's how we should handle it.
It's a tradeable ration system. One of the best possible ways to equitibly distribute scarce goods.
If we were serious about trying to reduce fossil fuel consumption, that's how we should handle it.
I don't understand why they don't refuse any donations that no food bank wants. Is it a way to get a food bank to help dispose of it? Why not tell the donor to do it? But overall, it seems...
I don't understand why they don't refuse any donations that no food bank wants. Is it a way to get a food bank to help dispose of it? Why not tell the donor to do it?
If you get 5 items usable out of a 100 item donation, it doesn't matter. Better to waste (food that was probably being thrown out anyway) than to embarrass donor and get nothing next time.
why they don't refuse any donations that no food bank wants.
If you get 5 items usable out of a 100 item donation, it doesn't matter. Better to waste (food that was probably being thrown out anyway) than to embarrass donor and get nothing next time.
Bingo, these are big donors, not local food drives. They don't want to sort things more than they have beyond marking it out of inventory for donation and write off. And someone probably can use...
Bingo, these are big donors, not local food drives. They don't want to sort things more than they have beyond marking it out of inventory for donation and write off. And someone probably can use some Tupperware lids, and some of the all but dead broccoli can get made into soup.
I worked at a food bank/kitchen for a while, and this is spot on. Most of the grocery stores we picked up from in bulk gave us a mix of good stuff to effectively garbage. It was pretty clear that...
I worked at a food bank/kitchen for a while, and this is spot on. Most of the grocery stores we picked up from in bulk gave us a mix of good stuff to effectively garbage.
It was pretty clear that employees were just told “all near-spoiled produce goes here, anything expiring today goes here”. The notable exception was Trader Joes, which put a solid amount of employee time into making sure everything they gave us was good and usable.
Yeah pantries get from stores like that, and it sounds like these are food banks getting it from warehouses in truckloads (and then would distribute to the pantries in their area). So the same...
Yeah pantries get from stores like that, and it sounds like these are food banks getting it from warehouses in truckloads (and then would distribute to the pantries in their area). So the same thing, on a step up on the scale.
I've been lucky, the pantry near campus has had just off date baked goods but the produce was always pretty decent. I felt good about offering it to the students coming through. People could decline it if they didn't want any individual item too. It was more a "shop for what you want" style pantry.
I never would have guessed that food banks employ a market based approach for distribution, or that they would employ negative value bids.
It's a tradeable ration system. One of the best possible ways to equitibly distribute scarce goods.
If we were serious about trying to reduce fossil fuel consumption, that's how we should handle it.
I don't understand why they don't refuse any donations that no food bank wants. Is it a way to get a food bank to help dispose of it? Why not tell the donor to do it?
But overall, it seems sensibly designed.
If you get 5 items usable out of a 100 item donation, it doesn't matter. Better to waste (food that was probably being thrown out anyway) than to embarrass donor and get nothing next time.
Bingo, these are big donors, not local food drives. They don't want to sort things more than they have beyond marking it out of inventory for donation and write off. And someone probably can use some Tupperware lids, and some of the all but dead broccoli can get made into soup.
I worked at a food bank/kitchen for a while, and this is spot on. Most of the grocery stores we picked up from in bulk gave us a mix of good stuff to effectively garbage.
It was pretty clear that employees were just told “all near-spoiled produce goes here, anything expiring today goes here”. The notable exception was Trader Joes, which put a solid amount of employee time into making sure everything they gave us was good and usable.
Yeah pantries get from stores like that, and it sounds like these are food banks getting it from warehouses in truckloads (and then would distribute to the pantries in their area). So the same thing, on a step up on the scale.
I've been lucky, the pantry near campus has had just off date baked goods but the produce was always pretty decent. I felt good about offering it to the students coming through. People could decline it if they didn't want any individual item too. It was more a "shop for what you want" style pantry.