One In Five Newtown Postal Food Donations Expired, Trashed

By John Voket

While the US Postal Service is celebrating a record setting food drive this year, here in Newtown, almost 20 percent of all donations had to be trashed because the items did not meet Connecticut Food Bank guidelines based on their “sell by,” or expiration dates.

According to Ann Piccini, Newtown Social Services director who manages the local food pantry, about 20 percent of the donated food from the May drive was determined to be past its safe use date.

“Some of the items we get can be kept for up to a year after the expiration date,” Ms Piccini said, referring to the CFB guidelines. “But it seems like some people just used this as an excuse to clean out their cabinets, and they didn’t even check to see how old (the donations were) before they put them out for the food pantry.”

Ms Piccini was concerned that the news about being forced to trash donated food would deter more people from donating to the local pantry, which serves a growing number of families who are pressed to make ends meet in the current economy.

“We don’t want to discourage Newtown residents from donating,” she said. “The postal food drive is the most important of the year for us because it helps us keep the pantry stocked year round.”

The social services director said that besides a traditional end of year holiday bubble of donations, the annual Postal Service collection helps stretch already dwindling stocks into the summer months when demand swells because so many children are out of school.

“Before the postal drive, we used to have bare shelves through summer to the holidays,” she said, adding that the overall volume of donations has been dwindling in recent years. That is why it was troubling when agency staff and volunteers began sorting the donations and discovered so many items were not usable.

“We did get a lot of donations, but I think we were down from last year because we threw out a lot — at least 15 to 20 percent,” she said.

While fewer volunteers were on hand to help administer the pick-up and sorting chores, as well, this year, Ms Piccini said approximately 30 volunteers and staff “got the job done.”

“But we could always use more donations, especially to try and make up for at least what we had to throw away,” she said. The CFB guidelines state that items like unopened cold cereal, food in jars, rice and pasta can be distributed up to 12 months after its sell by date. And while “acidic” canned goods like tomato products can also be used up to a year after the sell by or expiration, other non-acidic canned items like soups and vegetables can be used two to five years after its sell-by or use-by date.

An Associated Press report June 3 indicated that the annual food drive of the nation’s mail carriers collected a record 73.1 million pounds of donated food this year, union officials said.

The annual activity totaled 73,113,915 pounds of nonperishable food collected in more than 10,000 cities and towns. The amount was 2.4 million pounds larger than last year and surpassed the previous record of 71.3 million pounds collected in 2005.

“It is heartwarming that in these difficult times, when all families are feeling the effects of high food and gasoline prices, that so many Americans put aside their own financial concerns to help others facing hard times,” NALC president William H. Young said in a statement.

The CFB is currently reporting its most needed food items include: tuna and other canned meat; peanut butter; chunky soups and beef stew; macaroni and cheese; spaghetti and sauce; rice; dry and canned beans; canned vegetables and fruits (especially sugar-free items); powdered milk; 100 percent fruit juice (cans, bottles, boxes); and any other items marked “Sugar Free,” “Low Sodium,” and “No Salt.”

The latter items are in high demand from food pantry users facing special dietary restrictions because of health conditions like diabetes or elderly recipients on strict dietary regimes.

Newtown Social Services volunteers have “too frequently” discovered donated food to be ten years or more past its expiration date, or obviously unusable because the cans are bulging or leaking.

Food donations can generally be received during normal office hours, weekdays 8 am to 4:30 pm. But it is best to call ahead to be sure staff is in the office to take donations.

Generally mornings before 11 am on Mondays and Fridays are best. Call 270-4330 for more information, or to confirm a drop off.