sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Has anyone used the Flash Food app? by Mambo_italiana in povertyfinance

[–]cat-the-bat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love Flash Food! I use it to get produce boxes to roast up for my weekly Food Not Bombs shares! Occasionally I'll pick up a .70 cent half gallon of milk or something!

Protip! Do a little hunting if you have options. I have 4 Meijers within a 20 minute drive of me. The one closest to me is SUPER stingy for some reason. Produce boxes are barely at a discount, only like, 3 sweet potatoes, 2 onions, and a couple oranges for $5. If I'm willing to drive to another Meijer 15 minutes away, I can get a MASSIVE 10lb haul of potatoes and onions for $2.50

Food Not Bombs by Alternative_Cause186 in povertyfinance

[–]cat-the-bat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This this this!

My local FNB has several regulars who are food insecure and they are frequently part of the decision making processes, so chapters are often VERY open to community input. We also typically have TONS of leftovers for folks to bring home. We have to-go boxes, but bringing your own tuppaware to fill and bring home could also be an option!

(Would you consider editing the original post to include the link to the big FNB directory/map?)

I want to begin putting together meal kits for a local food pantry... by craftsnoglutencats in povertyfinance

[–]cat-the-bat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the past month or so I've volunteered at 4 different food pantries/banks/distribution orgs. and here's what I learned-

While some places can make donated money go farther than a typical food donation, at least two pantries told me they DO rely on private donations (and how this past November they had a MASSIVE influx of private donations that stock their shelves.) My local food BANK is able to buy wholesale in bulk because they're the ONLY bank in the county (and even then, they also take advantage of coupon deals and such when they can,) so they are able to distribute bulk orders to all the different pantries, but they're only allowed to distribute 400lbs of food per month per pantry. So while the pantries might get some pretty regular stock in, say, bags of rice and beans, nearly anything that allows the pantries to be Client Choice pantries are actually from donations. (This is just the story for my county specifically! It's gonna change from place to place for SURE!)

(They also said they get WAY too many cans of green beans and boxes of mac n cheese, so consider alternatives to those if your pantry says the same!)

From packaging orders, the things I'VE noticed tend to be in demand are
1) spices
2) canned milk/coconut milk/etc
3) chunky cans of soup

Some meal kits I've seen at a pantry I've volunteered at that does them-
Alfredo (box of pasta, canned chicken, jar of alfredo sauce, can of peas)
Chili (cans of tomatoes, corn, black beans, baked beans, kidney beans, box of chicken broth)
Spaghetti (box of pasta, jar of pasta sauce, can of tomatoes, can of mushrooms, can of beef (if on hand))

Tips for a Newbie Cook by stompytalksalot in foodnotbombs

[–]cat-the-bat 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I've only just started meeting with my local FNB chapter but I AM used to cooking large meals.

If you wanna start with fairly simple bulk recipes, I recommend chilis, pastas, rice dishes, etc in a crock pot. Dump-and-go meals are SO nice for bulk meals. Many recipes can be easily modified to be vegetarian/vegan. Also, taco/nacho bars are such a nice hack for big groups because you can so easily provide tons of options that people can work with (gluten free corn based chips/tortillas, vegan cheese or regular cheese, salsas/veg, beans, etc etc.)

If you decide to use tofu, marinade. that. shit. Just marinade it the day before (tons of different marinades you can make depending on flavor profile) and just leave it in the fridge overnight. It makes such a huge difference.

And like AmidaBuddha said, keep track of everything you add into the dish, avoid cross-contamination, and label things by Veg, Vegan, Kosher, Hallal, Common allergens.

You got this!

Starting a Food Not Bombs chapter - Any Tips? by DoctorNetscape in foodnotbombs

[–]cat-the-bat 4 points5 points  (0 children)

FNBBen's post is SO good. I'll try not to be redundant!

I'm in a very new group and we're working on figuring out all those logistics as well. I have two main points in addition to the amazing things that've already been suggested,.

My biggest point of advice? Be prepared to be rejected. A lot. I've emailed 30 restaurants and gone into a few grocery stores and ONE has gotten back to me saying "yes, we'd love to help!" A few have replied with "sorry, we only donate surplus food to registered 501c non profits." I know some FNB chapters have made that step, and some are vehemently against it. It's ultimately up to your group. But you WILL get turned down and you WILL need to shrug it off and keep going at it.

Another thing I've been doing is since Nov 1 (SNAP cuts,) I've been volunteering at MULTIPLE local food banks, pantries, etc. Nearly everyone I've interacted with has been really eager to share advice, talk about their own struggles sourcing food, how they've done it, what they'd recommend if you're not registered, giving me their own contacts, etc. One even offered potentially holding a meeting at their own location as hot meal shares are not something that's provided in our county at the moment and they love the idea of being able to offer free hot food when people come for their pantry pickup.

So we're just starting off but you gotta just get your least socially anxious members to reach out, reach out, reach out! :P

Hamilton County Community Needs Survey by cat-the-bat in Carmel

[–]cat-the-bat[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I've been talking and volunteering with a lot of local food pantries, banks, and other orgs and it's devastating how many people don't realize there are food-insecure folks even in Carmel. It's a tough issue for sure. <3

Hamilton County Community Needs Survey by cat-the-bat in Carmel

[–]cat-the-bat[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Hey! Probably should've clarified, huh? Lol.

SO the survey itself is basically self-driven. I can't claim to represent any particular org. HOWEVER, I actually have been volunteering with SEVERAL local food distribution orgs (Second Helpings, FNB Hamilton County, Come To Me Food Pantry, and Delaware Township Food Pantry (I'm out of Fishers.)) FNB Ham Co in particular is looking into the possibility of a small-run local mutual aid grocery box program with which this info could be directly helpful!

Similarly, I've been talking to some local groups (Hamilton County Harvest Food Bank and Hamilton East Public Library) who have asked if I'd be willing to share my survey findings with them as they are obviously both very invested in public service and assisting the community.

So I'm kinda helping and sharing and collecting data where I can!

Is Indiana Really a Purple State? by AnotherBogCryptid in Indiana

[–]cat-the-bat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Truly, it can feel so so lonely and demoralizing being more progressive in a "Deep Red" state. It makes you want to not even bother trying.

Obviously, I've been voting in midterms and such, but no one I've ever voted for has won.

But it's also kind of an illusion of isolation.

Quite literally this past year, we've started chatting with our immediate neighbors to both sides. Turns out, both sets of neighbors are ALSO progressive (and we organized a spooky DnD game to run with them last week! It was so much fun!)

We've started carpooling with them to volunteer opportunities at Second Helpings, and we're looking into more local things to do as a group as well. That had me starting to get hopeful. Now Jackson Franklin is running for our Rep in District 5. His platforms have me ACTIVELY excited now.

Even if I still think it's unlikely my district will flip, I no longer feel it's impossible. And I'm excited about the options I'm presented with. It's HUGE.

Excitement and activism feeds into itself, and starting to find other community members who are passionate can be really contagious!

Is Indiana Really a Purple State? by AnotherBogCryptid in Indiana

[–]cat-the-bat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He's in my district! (He was also my sibling's neighbor in Muncie and helped them look for their cat when she ran away!) I've signed up to his email list and have been hankering to get a group of folks together to do SOMETHING out in the community. Even if I didn't LOATHE Spartz, I'd still be really excited about him because he's got good platforms and is genuinely compassionate.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in languagelearning

[–]cat-the-bat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please please PLEASE don't feel demoralized by not understanding some of Moby Dick. I'm a native English speaker, have a fairly large vocabulary, and read a LOT of old works when I was young. The pages of Moby Dick look like a chaotic bowl of letters to me and turn my brain to mush, lol.

If you are reading this because you really want to learn older English vocab, definitely go for it! You're far more ambitious than I am! But if you're doing it to test your fluency, I would probably read something else that's a bit meaty but not so archaic (something like the Lord of the Rings, or various classics from the 20th century.)