7 ms·

This just adds to a growing body of research showing how effective cash transfer programs are, especially compared to traditional aid. It pains me to see peopl

This just adds to a growing body of research showing how effective cash transfer programs are, especially compared to traditional aid. It pains me to see people going to stores to buy canned foods or physical things for charities. Because afterwards, people have to spend time to sort the goods, ship it out, and distribute the goods, which are resource intensive activities. And then the final recipient has no say in what they receive either... in many cases the donated items go unused. And even if they are useful, a constant infusion of effectively free goods can distort the local economies.

RugnirViking 7y ago
"And then the final recipient has no say in what they receive either... in many cases the donated items go unused." I used to work in a food bank warehouse, and yes, sorting the goods was a great deal of effort. We sorted them by 'urgency' and use-by date. Canned food was very helpful, because it lasts between the big giving times - people donate primarily in autumn and christmas, and there is a big defecit during the summer, so having long-lasting things was always a blessing. The main thing that would help would be standardising the placement and format of use-by dates on products. Some few products have absurd locations for the use-by date, such as inside of the container! Very, very little food was wasted. Yes, the recipient didn't have a great deal of choice. However, practically, this simply won't be possible without waste, as you'd have to have enough food to offer a choice, and some wouldn't be picked. However, the packages that we provided people were balanced nutritionally, and we took feedback from them regularly about what worked for them and what didn't. We made sure they got a lot of basic, versatile ingredients, such as onions, pasta, rice etc. In adittion to this, have a little perspective. People who are relying on these kinds of programmes very rarely complain that they don't have choice, as they are glad to have anything at all. We also try to make sure each person recieves some "interesting" items along with basic ingredients, to allow them to experement, and provide diversity. Things we always needed more of: Long-life milk, or powdered milk. Fruit juice, especially long-life juice or concentrated juice. Fresh vegetables and onions can be helpful, although if you really do want to help its best to confer with the local volunteers on what they need most at the moment. Things we had too much of: Tea and coffee. Sometimes we'd get a large donation of fruit from supermarkets, but that was usually solved by effort (banannas that can't be given away made into bananna bread or baby formula, or in the worst-case compost for a community garden)
- bzbz 7y ago
  That last sentence struck me: “banannas that can't be given away made into bananna or baby formula.” This wasn’t in the US, was it?
  - RugnirViking 7y ago
    It was in the UK. Banannas are just an example of a highly time-sensitive item (about a week before they go bad usually)
- chillacy 7y ago
  > In adittion to this, have a little perspective. People who are relying on these kinds of programmes very rarely complain that they don't have choice, as they are glad to have anything at all. I don't think we should be comparing "donated goods" to "nothing", rather "donated goods" to "cash aid". If the money used to buy the goods and transport it were issued as cash, could it do more good?

RugnirViking 7y ago

"And then the final recipient has no say in what they receive either... in many cases the donated items go unused." I used to work in a food bank warehouse, and yes, sorting the goods was a great deal of effort. We sorted them by 'urgency' and use-by date. Canned food was very helpful, because it lasts between the big giving times - people donate primarily in autumn and christmas, and there is a big defecit during the summer, so having long-lasting things was always a blessing. The main thing that would help would be standardising the placement and format of use-by dates on products. Some few products have absurd locations for the use-by date, such as inside of the container! Very, very little food was wasted. Yes, the recipient didn't have a great deal of choice. However, practically, this simply won't be possible without waste, as you'd have to have enough food to offer a choice, and some wouldn't be picked. However, the packages that we provided people were balanced nutritionally, and we took feedback from them regularly about what worked for them and what didn't. We made sure they got a lot of basic, versatile ingredients, such as onions, pasta, rice etc. In adittion to this, have a little perspective. People who are relying on these kinds of programmes very rarely complain that they don't have choice, as they are glad to have anything at all. We also try to make sure each person recieves some "interesting" items along with basic ingredients, to allow them to experement, and provide diversity. Things we always needed more of: Long-life milk, or powdered milk. Fruit juice, especially long-life juice or concentrated juice. Fresh vegetables and onions can be helpful, although if you really do want to help its best to confer with the local volunteers on what they need most at the moment. Things we had too much of: Tea and coffee. Sometimes we'd get a large donation of fruit from supermarkets, but that was usually solved by effort (banannas that can't be given away made into bananna bread or baby formula, or in the worst-case compost for a community garden)

bzbz 7y ago
That last sentence struck me: “banannas that can't be given away made into bananna or baby formula.” This wasn’t in the US, was it?
- RugnirViking 7y ago
  It was in the UK. Banannas are just an example of a highly time-sensitive item (about a week before they go bad usually)
chillacy 7y ago
> In adittion to this, have a little perspective. People who are relying on these kinds of programmes very rarely complain that they don't have choice, as they are glad to have anything at all. I don't think we should be comparing "donated goods" to "nothing", rather "donated goods" to "cash aid". If the money used to buy the goods and transport it were issued as cash, could it do more good?