Anybody watch "Eatn It" special on msnbc from 10-12PM?

[SheilaT]

1. Sometimes food that is getting close to its expiration date gates donated to homeless shelters

or food banks.

I live in Santa Fe, do volunteer work helping to feed the homeless. There's a food bank that mainly gets donations of food close to the sell by date. I don't know a lot of how it works, although a couple of years ago I'd "shop" there for food. What they had in stock was what you could get, and I learned to be flexible about what I then fixed.

More recently, I don't have the same access to that food bank (somewhat complicated story that simply isn't relevant here) but they are still operating, still getting food to those who need it. Not only do they distribute food to many agencies in northern New Mexico, at least once a week you can pick up a bag of food, without having to demonstrate actual need. It's a very simple and straightforward giveaway.

added on edit: Panera donates all of their leftover food at the end of each day to various organizations, and the homeless shelter in Santa Fe is one of the recipients.