client choice food pantries.

L

leopold

Valued Senior Member
i recently started volunteering at a local client choice food pantry and soon found myself in charge of the food handling/ distribution portion of the operation.
problem is i know next to nothing when it comes to this stuff.
we have a wide variety of items to choose from but our shelf space is limited and we must observe certain USDA restrictions.
my job is basically make sure the clients get what they need in the form of "emergency supplies".
my question is what should i put on the shelf for selection?
yes, i know, food.
but it's not as simple as that, eg do i put rice cakes or prepacked rice? remember, i might not be able to put both out.
the clients cannot ask if i have anything, we've tried that and it turned into a shouting match.
another example would be based on nutrition content.
peanut butter or meat?
it's an interesting job and i like it, my only concern is falling off the ladder or loading dock.
one person almost did fall off the dock last week, went to switch sides unloading a pallet.
we serve about 800 families a month, i'll get some tonnage figures tomorrow.
anyway, i could use some suggestions.
 
I imagine one restriction would be whether an item is perishable, or needs refrigeration. So, peanut butter is always a good choice, while meat may not be.

For nutritional value, you can get a book of calorie and content tables (any old diet book; paperbacks easily available new or second-hand). A simple rule of thumb may be: the less processed a food is the higher value. Cabbage fresh from the field, rather than coleslaw, but if it has to sit on the shelf very long, canned sauerkraut with the fewest listed ingredients. More grain, fruit, vegetable and dairy; less sugar, fat, salt and artificial colours.
 
Jeeves said:
I imagine one restriction would be whether an item is perishable, or needs refrigeration. So, peanut butter is always a good choice, while meat may not be.
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yes, we usually "stock" perishable items.
we always have meat.
this is where a couple of the restrictions come into play.
meat MUST be stored at 0 F or below.
meat, bread, and pastry items cannot be stored in the same freezer.
items must be rotated (first in, first out) and not as easy as it sounds.
we currently have 7 chest freezers, 2 uprights, and 5 refrigerator/freezers.
this operation has outgrown the above storage space and we are currently seeking extra freezers and a large add on walk in refrigerator.
this refrigerator must be large enough to accommodate 5 or 6 pallets with room between them to move pallets in and out.
the dry food (canned goods, boxed cereal) storage area is about the size of a 6 or 7 car garage


For nutritional value, you can get a book of calorie and content tables (any old diet book; paperbacks easily available new or second-hand). A simple rule of thumb may be: the less processed a food is the higher value. Cabbage fresh from the field, rather than coleslaw, but if it has to sit on the shelf very long, canned sauerkraut with the fewest listed ingredients. More grain, fruit, vegetable and dairy; less sugar, fat, salt and artificial colours.
Click to expand...
well see, the thing is i want to make this idiot proof, remember we are volunteers and the person that replaces me will also be a volunteer.
i have already nailed down one snafu, too many "bosses", every council member thinks they can tell you what this and that is.
"the word" now comes from the chairperson with councils approval.
another major problem i've noticed is lack of man power, this pantry needs at least 3 people just to handle the distribution, we currently have 2, me and another guy.
related to the above is the stress the other guy must deal with, he goes one on one with EVERY person that comes in.
this in itself has caused more than a few people to quit.
my plan would be to add 2 extra people, one for each side of the curtain.
this would allow for proper food rotation and it will keep the shelves stocked
 
Buddha12 said:
Here's an idea, why not just call existing food distribution centers that are doing this already and ask them what they think is the best things to stock up on. Here's one to get you started if you so choose....

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...1IGwBw&usg=AFQjCNG0_PqNqtL8aPAVgxe82Tk_R6hcjw
Click to expand...
i've tried that.
while pantries share in certain items there are many things we have that the others do not.
this is a fairly large pantry and you will get a hint of it tomorrow when i get last months donations log.
we currently have about 3 tons of food in stock.
 
obviously you want to choose food in cans that is not perishable, go for something that lasts longer and is in better packaging over something that has less of a shelf time. Something like vegetables just dont cut it.

Also remember that some people like to have a choice of diet foods, although that is not life threatening, but giving them that choice is very useful for success of the food project.
 
ok, i've already turned in last months log.
all i have is for this month from the 3rd to the 19th
we get food from 4 sources:
walmart donated 3838 pounds in the above time frame.
private donations 332 pounds.
midway, a food distributor 2450 pounds.
i haven't got the fourth source, gleaners, because it will not be here until wednesday but it will be in excess of 1 ton
that's at least 8620 pounds of food donated in less than a month and we use it all.
 
For what it is worth, I work in a corporate retail grocery store and we have little shelf indicators to direct the public to things that our local food bank needs. Some of the ones that come immediately to mind are:

Milk - Powdered, canned and tetrapacks. (Lots of families with kids.)
Bottled Water
Mac & Cheese (One pot meal.)
Rice Cakes (Bread substitute for many who don't eat wheat.)
Oat Cakes
Chili
Beans in sauce
Canned Tuna
Corned beef, canned.
Canned Stew
Granola Bars and breakfast bars
Oatmeal, instant and quick
Peanut Butter
Pancake mix/Biscuit mix
Nuts, seeds, dried fruits.
Noodle cups/bowls (Add hot water, food and serving dish in one.)
Soups, canned and dry.
Rice, instant and quicker cooking types.
Dehydrated potatoes. (Scalloped or mashed.)
Canned fruits and veggies.

All of the foods listed above have very long shelf life, require minimum preparation and can be kept on hand in the event of an emergency in any home. Dried products have the advantage of not being temperature sensitive to freezing.
 
the only thing we don't have from the above list is powdered milk.
we have NONE in stock.
non processed cheese is another item i would like to have.
have any idea how much a refrigerator will cost that you can park your car in?
we might be able to get some grants to pay for some of it.

edit:
also, can you direct me to the USDA guidlines that govern such a fridge?
how are we going to disinfect this thing?
 
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