what would you do with expired cans of food and power bars?

[urquie]

i'm replenishing my emergency box of food and supplies. i hate the thought of throwing away all this food, but i don't think the food bank will take it. are there any other options? tia

[redhookmom]

According to my husband, who knows everything, it would be OK to eat. The date is usually a sell by date, not eat by. Is there a reason that you would just not use it for your meals this week? Is it simply not stuff you would normally use?

[urquie]

exactly - it's stuff we wouldn't normally use... sure hope we never need it! maybe i should put a bunch of chocolate in the emergency box instead of canned fruit and vegetables :)

[Ari]

Trash them.

[barbarhow]

Eat them. I don't go by those dates. (within reason)
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03, a Red Sox fan
and Anna 5/12/05, my little Yankee fan!

[dr mom]

There is absolutely no way I could throw away perfectly good food, when there are so many people without enough to eat.

Even if the food bank isn't able to accept your donation, the local homeless shelter might - or local police might be willing to accept it, since they usually know where the homeless camps are.

I have the same issue with bulk storage - I know I'm supposed to "store what I eat and eat what I store" - but, really, how often am I going to suddenly get a craving for a ten-pound can of beans? ;)

[urquie]

yay! i found someone who wanted to take the food and get it to people who could really use it.