Several weeks ago, Natalie left a comment asking what the commodities food is that I talk so much about. And I apparently completely missed that question when it was asked.
I'm sorry, Natalie! I wasn't blowing you off on purpose, I promise!
It's a good question, and I'm sure others have wondered as well, so I'm going to answer it here now.
Our county has a program funded by the USDA whereby anyone below a certain income level can get free food. I suspect it's the equivalent of a food bank, but since we live so far from any distribution centers, it's just sent to us.
Once a month, anyone in this program gets a big box of food that includes pantry items. We've also seen fresh and frozen meats and other refrigerated things. In addition, there's a box of fresh produce. There's also a dairy box with milk, butter, cream, and so on, but I don't know if they get that every month.
I also don't know if all the elderly people here are below the required income level, or if the program automatically provides the food to anyone over a certain age, but all the older people we know get these boxes.
We are not signed up for the program, but we get these things secondarily from our neighbors because they can't eat it all. They mostly give us the pantry stuff. A single elderly lady is unlikely to be eating a pound of split peas every month. So we get a LOT of split peas and other beans, along with rice, spaghetti, canned tomato sauce, and canned vegetables.
Some of this stuff just goes to our chickens, because I really am not a fan of canned vegetables and we don't really eat that many split peas.
In addition to our neighbors' extra foods, the lady who distributes the boxes--also a neighbor--stops by after she's done her delivery route and gives us some of the extra things. This is why we get one or two produce boxes every month. I have no idea how this program is supplied, but there's also always something particular she has in ridiculous excess. Last month, that included flats of strawberries and many, many packages of pretty fancy bread from a bakery.
And when I say excess, I mean she has a pick-up truck bed full of food. Since Covid, the supply of foods for this program has actually increased. Again, I don't know how this program actually works, but I know they always send way more than is used here. And we get the overflow, because otherwise it would just be thrown out.
So there you go! That's what I mean when I mention commodities food.
2 comments:
Years ago, due to circumstances that I can’t remember exactly, I received “government food”. It was ver random, and never predictable. One month it could be pounds of cheese. Next month, no cheese but pounds of split peas. Next month, lots of powdered milk and canned peas. I used what I could and shared the rest with neighbors who somehow did not qualify, although they needed much more than I did. As a community we benefitted and we’re grateful. But it was pretty strange.
I didn't feel blown off, no worries! And of course this gets answered when I'm out of town and don't see it for a few days haha. But thanks for answering!
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