Why milk is one of the best items to give to food banks

Today is Tuesday, a day that encourages charitable efforts during the holiday season. Between donations to Facebook fundraisers of your friends and collecting coats for kids, you could also stock canned foods or cereals for your local food bank. While this is admirable, the food bank probably needs more than rice or tuna: milk.

The Anti-Hunger Organization Feeding America and The Great American Milk Drive are letting this season know that milk is one of the most requested but least-donated products of US food banks. Through its donations website, the campaign aims to provide more liters of milk to Feeding America's network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food boards. In case you're wondering, yes, the Great American Milk Drive is affiliated with the National Dairy Council and MilkPep, which are funded by the country's dairy companies. They most certainly have a horse in this race.

That said, there is a real demand for milk in food banks. According to statistics from The Great American Milk Drive, "people served by food banks receive less than 1 gallon per person per year." At the food bank where I volunteer on Monday, I can say that the demand for milk generally exceeds our supply. Most people do not think about giving milk because it is perishable – our food bank has refrigerators! – and milk from grocery stores often has an expiry date identical to that of receiving the food bank. (You can of course keep the milk past its expiration date, but not more than five days.)

All of this to say that if you are planning to drop a box of food at your local food bank for the holidays, maybe throw a gallon or two of milk in it. (Or make an online donation to the Great American Milk Drive; donations will stay in your area.) This milk will probably be more appreciated than a can of water chestnuts almost out of date or an umpteenth tinned canned green beans. French pantry.