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Family Grocery Bag
  • Peanut butter
  • Canned soup
  • Canned fruit
  • Canned vegetables
  • Canned stew
  • Canned fish
  • Canned beans
  • Pasta (most prefer whole grain)
  • Rice (most prefer brown rice)

Family Grocery Bag

SKU: 0099
$19.99Price

  • The number one rule to remember is this: if your donation is perishable, i.e. it’s something that has a limited shelf life if not refrigerated, food banks won’t accept it.

    But there are other categories of food that you can’t donate. We've broken it all down into this handy list:

    Items needing refrigeration:

    As we've already mentioned, this is the big one. Food like produce, dairy, and meat can spoil easily and your local food bank may not have the refrigerator or freezer space needed to keep these items fresh. While an individual can’t donate a bunch of bananas or a frozen turkey, many food banks do work directly with farmers, retailers, restaurants, and other companies to source these perishable foods for donation.

    And, Feeding NubaMarket helps ensure its network has access to these healthy foods year-round.

    Expired food:

    When considering what to donate, think about what you’d be comfortable serving your family. Chances are, you don’t eat food that’s past its “use-by” or “sell-by” date, so avoid donating anything past those dates to food banks as it could be unsafe to eat.

    Leftovers:

    While it may be tempting to want to share the bountiful food from big meals like Thanksgiving, it’s best to keep leftovers for the family. To ensure the people they serve are safe, food banks can’t accept leftovers or anything made in personal kitchens because they aren’t individually sealed and the food bank can’t verify the ingredients or preparation process. 

    Food with packaging concerns:

    This includes food with damaged packaging such as dented or bloated cans, packaging that is already open, or even items in glass containers, which can shatter and cause food safety concerns for any other food they’re stored near.

    A good rule of thumb is if you wouldn't consider buying it new, don't donate it.

    Baked goods:

    Similar to leftovers, since food banks can’t confirm how your baked goods were made or their ingredients, they can’t be donated. But, food banks often have relationships with local restaurants or bakeries which will donate extra food that is properly labeled and handled to nearby pantries, soup kitchens or shelters.
     

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