Free Food

Are you afraid of free food? I don’t mean someone paying for your meal. I mean the end of a communal meal or clear out the pantry, free food that you then take home and use to feed your family. As a military spouse, even if I was at one point in my life, I am definitely not afraid of free food.

Let’s be blunt, most military families are not paid a reasonable wage. So options are to get creative with meal planning, go into debt to give your family a basic necessity or take the freebies when you can get them. I have been in the take the free stuff then creative meal pan camp for a long time.

In the military world, our friends and neighbors move regularly and try as we do we can never use up the food in our freezers and pantry before moving day, which means it gets trashed or given away. More often than not, we give it away and gladly take it from those giving. I know this seems weird to some people, but for many, especially enlisted military families, this is how we survive. We have aged out of WIC, and somehow we make too much for food stamps, so it’s either take whatever handout we can or go into debt. My house is reaching the point of retirement and civilian jobs, but that mindset never leaves.

I work as a school secretary, and we are often gifted food from parents and community members. The week leading into spring break was parent-teacher conferences which meant long days. During those long days, our PTO, principals, and community members gifted us with snacks, lunches, and dinners. At the end of it, my Assistant Principal sent me home with all the leftovers because it was that or trash them, and I was not letting any of that go to waste.

That meant my son and husband spent a few days eating leftover pizzas and sandwiches for lunches. It meant that we had a lot of donuts for snacks and breakfasts. And it meant that I took apart both a veggie tray and a cheese and hummus tray, then meal planned using those pieces for dinners over the break. Were they the best meals? Probably not, but we didn’t go hungry, and my food budget was given a little reprieve.

Being open to food in this way has not only been smart for my budget, but it has made me a better and more creative cook. And it has shown that free food from someone else’s pantry isn’t necessarily bad.