What Do New York Food Banks Truly Need But Never Ask For?

Maybe you want to donate to local food banks. What do they truly need?

This time of the year, I always think back to this famous AskReddit post on Reddit asking "People who work at or have needed to get food from a food bank, Whats the one food that you wish more people donated and why"? Inside this story, several great items came up that you would never think of.

What food you CAN donate to your local food bank?

Feeding America suggests that most food banks across New York State accept dry and canned food donations. Think of it like this- It's any food that is “shelf-stable” or nonperishable. Only donate food that hasn’t reached its “sell-by” date yet. Specifically, food banks often need items like:

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

That’s definitely not an exhaustive list but it covers a lot of what food banks regularly need.

Here's what not to donate to a food bank

Here's a few items to consider not donating: items needing refrigeration, expired food, leftovers, food with packaging concerns, and baked goods.

What's food items Food Banks wish more people donated and why?

While any non-perishable item donated will be appreciated by food bank patrons, there are some items that are in high demand at the food bank that some people don’t even think to donate. These items aren’t essentials, so food bank staff doesn’t publicly ask for them.

Here's a quick look at some of the top requests from Reddit: