Nick Shiach, Bainbridge Island

It's time to can food drives

Like most in the Puget Sound region, I believe in the power of food banks to combat hunger in our communities. A common way we support food banks is by giving canned food, through food drives. Food drives, however, are self-serving, inefficient, and unhealthy.

When we support food drives, we offer our food banks bad food. Every time a food drive comes around, people donate the food from their pantry that they least want to eat. We have the luxury of uncluttering and feeling good about it at the same time. 'Expired beans? Twizzlers from last Halloween? Well I'm not gonna eat it, but I bet the poor will.'

The effect? The L.A. Times reported that up to 50 percent of food drive donations are expired, feeding only trash cans. reported that almost 50 percent of the food donated does not meet basic nutritional standards.

Food banks deserve the best food, and the solution is easy. Give food banks cash. Food banks can purchase up to 20 times more food with your dollars than you can, through bulk and charity discounts. Northwest Harvest, the largest food bank network in Washington, can feed a family of three a nutritious meal for just 67 cents.

Compared with what food banks are capable of providing with monetary donations, food drives provide old, unhealthy and expensive food. The next time you are asked to support your local food bank, donate cash instead of cans. It's time we make a real stand against hunger.

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