Food For Thought

[+shirotaka]

Hello All, I am thinking about placing my first cache. I'd like to call it "Food For Thought"

 

The idea is for cachers to place a CAN of food (not stuff that would attract animals) in the cache and then I could get the cans out very often, and take them to the local food bank.

 

Do folks out there think this is a viable idea?

 

Thanks for your comments,

 

Shirotaka

[+Markwell]

Almost soliciting...

[+shirotaka]

I'm not sure what you mean. I read the guidelines for placing a cache and it states that "Food is always a bad idea". So that got me thinking whether or not we (there are four of us) should do this, and wanted other cachers opinions.

[+briansnat]

Food is a bad idea, even canned food if you are in bear country. It would also violate the guidelines against caches that solicit. I'd say if you want to donate to a food bank, go right ahead. If you want to encourage your fellow local geocachers to do it, great, but geocaches really aren't meant to be vehicles for charity.

[+Muirwoody]

Recently discussed at lenghth in this thread:

 

Here

[+Nappy10]

I think the idea is a good one, but maybe not with geocaches. I think that raising the idea of food as an acceptable means of geocaching "swag" opens a door to many questionable scenarios.

 

If such a cache were to be placed, I think it would work really well...for the first couple weeks. I don't see that a standard cache could get enough visits to be worth the effort for the food bank. A well-organized food drive over a weekend would probably raise a better inventory of food than a cache such as this would in a year.

 

Also, what of those who never quite follow the guidelines. A canned item might cause others to ponder droping a bag of trail mix or chips into the cache. Squirrels and other animals would make use of your cache more than cachers would. Dangerous for the animals and the environment.

 

It is my opinion that a good rule of thumb would be "no food in caches whatsoever." I don't mean to put down the idea, because your intentions are to help the community in which you live.

 

I would prefer that you maybe organize an event cache. You and your local geocachers could do a food drive before the thanksgiving/holiday seaon. It solves the above mentioned problems and accomplishes the task at hand.

[+shirotaka]

I guess that if people don't want to donate they don't have to go after this cache. But if they are inclined to donate anyway, then this would be a fun way to do it.

 

I just read the other thread, and people seem rather divided on the subject. My plan is to put it very close to my office building and empty the cache on a daily basis so there should be almost no chance of animal disturbance, and I could triage any cans that actually did look tampered with. I then would store the actual food in my office in an empty filing cabinet till I have enough to take down to the food bank.

[+shirotaka]

An event cache might be the best answer I've heard yet. Great Idea.

[+Prime Suspect]

An event cache might be the best answer I've heard yet. Great Idea.

The solicitation rule applies to Event caches as well. You might want to talk to your local reviewer first.

[+Renegade Knight]

In general geocachers are a pretty generouse lot. However supporting a charity is something that works much better at the local level with a logal caching organization.

[+Hemlock]

Solicitations are also off-limits. For example, caches perceived to be posted for religious, political, or social agendas may not be listed. Geocaching is supposed to be a light, fun activity, not a platform for an agenda.

I've archived several submissions exactly like the one described by the OP.

[+Subterranean]

Solicitations are also off-limits. For example, caches perceived to be posted for religious, political, or social agendas may not be listed. Geocaching is supposed to be a light, fun activity, not a platform for an agenda.

I've archived several submissions exactly like the one described by the OP.

Of course, this does not mean that it's not a great idea, it just means that you won't be able to list it on Geocaching.com. Go ahead and hold an event or even place a cache as you had first intended! There are other ways to get the word out about it. Use another listing service, use the forums of your local caching organization (if you're lucky enough to have one), or just use word-of-mouth. I think (hope) few cachers would really be disappointed that they can't add a "found it" smiley to their GC.com stats for it. You could even bill it as an event where "the needy will get the smiley." ...I don't know... it could work.