Laconia food kitchen
 

One old can of soup, maybe five years old and purchased incorrectly from Meredith Star Market, thinking it was vegetable, I donated it, a Campbell's cream of asparagus, to the food kitchen.

The food kitchen has lots of visitors look'n for somethig to eat. Located next to the Laconia McDonald's on Union Ave, it is the white Saint Vincent dePaul building just next to the Saint Vincent dePaul store.

Got any old cans just sittn' in the back of your foodshelf. You know the food that you never want to eat, like a two year old box of crackers, or a can of baked beans that's been there since 1998. Something like that....better to donate than to toss it out....plus you'll be a better person for it.:)

Be sure to check the expiration date first.

Not only that -- but it would be much, much better to simply buy two cans of soup the next time you shop, rather than one. And give the second to the soup kitchen. Don't give them old, stale, and potentially harmful food. And don't force the soup kitchen volunteers to have to make expiration-date decisions on every single item donated to the kitchen.

Expiration dates
 

Dates on canned goods are often very conservative. Some of them are labeled best if used by ____ date or encourage you to use before a certain date for best flavor. Some are labeled with a sell by ____date. The canned food or soup is not instantly bad on that date.

When you do shop, check out the dates on all the food items you purchase. I find many items out of date in the store. Canned items and perishables like dairy and meat products. Out of date items are not always pulled off of store shelves. In some places they are pulled to the front of the display to be sold first.

Whether it is in fatlazyless' cabinet or soup that This'nThat buys that day, it may be out of date. Again I say, Check the date before you buy the soup or ANY food. If the date is coded than ask for the code key. Always check the dates on everything. If the store is good at stock rotation the newest stuff is at the back of the shelf :)

Got any old cans just sittn' in the back of your foodshelf. You know the food that you never want to eat, like a two year old box of crackers, or a can of baked beans that's been there since 1998. Something like that....better to donate than to toss it out....plus you'll be a better person for it.
__________________
Geez Less,
I know you meant well with your comment, but the people who benefit from the local food pantries are people like you and me who need some extra help. To infer that they can eat your old stale crackers and 11 year old baked beans is a bit insensitive, don't you think?
Cereal, tuna fish, peanut butter...the local food pantries need good nourishing food on their shelves and yes, they do need everyone's help.