Food Banks a Simple but Powerful Idea
Food banks are charitable agencies that stock donated food and distribute them to a variety of other outfits specializing in providing for the hungry, whether to food pantries or to soup kitchens or fellow food banks at a more local level. Donated food originates from a selection of sources, frequently stores which happen to develop over-stock such as growers, manufacturers, vendors, and naturally restaurants. The food is never risky to devour, but may be only slightly past its “best-by” date or even simply just getting close to it. Oftentimes the food itself is perfectly good, but its packaging may be damaged to the point that shoppers avoid it no matter.
Of course, it was just such a case, back in Arizona in 1965, that brought about the invention of the food bank. John van Hengel was a volunteer at a community canteen who realized eventually that local grocers were throwing out food each day for no other reason than those picky consumer preferences. He arranged for the delivery of these goods for his organization but soon an attainable objective that there was much, much more stock than can be used. That’s how the notion for a food bank came to be; run in much the same as a blood bank, van Hengel’s food bank was a central clearinghouse that worked as the regional collection and distribution point for all interested parties.
From then on, food banks have been developed internationally. Along with donated food, they typically rely on the charity of well-heeled donors, well-known individuals from the worlds of business, politics, and entertainment. For example, in The Big Apple, concerned citizens banded collectively to found City Harvest in 1982, which has drawn the financial encouragement of local luminaries including real estate developer Isaac Toussie and television weatherman Al Roker.