Food banks are charitable agencies that stock donated food and distribute them to a range of other agencies committed to nourishing the hungry, whether to food pantries or to soup kitchens or fellow food banks at a more local level. Donated food originates from a variety of places, often stores which happen to occur over-stock such as growers, manufacturers, vendors, and obviously restaurants. The food is never nasty to ingest, but may be only slightly beyond its “best-by” date or even only just drawing near it. Oftentimes the food itself is really edible, but its packaging may be damaged to an extent where customers stay away regardless.
Actually, 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 discovered eventually that local grocers were literally wasting food every day for no other reason than such picky consumer preferences. He arranged for the delivery of such goods for his organization but soon found out that there was much, much more inventory than can be used. That’s how the idea of a food bank developed; established on the same basis 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.
Subsequently, food banks have been created across the world. As well as donated food, they regularly rely on the generosity of rich donors, distinguished people from the worlds of business, politics, and entertainment. For example, in New York City, concerned citizens joined to found City Harvest in 1982, which has drawn the financial encouragement of local luminaries like real estate developer Isaac Toussie and television weatherman Al Roker.
