A lot of people seem to be misinterpreting me here. I don't want poor people to starve, nor do I want people to reuse needles. All I'm saying is that cash is a lot more universal and useful to food pantries than going to the store and buying cans is. Also many food pantries have deals with companies where they can get the food cheaper. So buying cans of food to donate is also a worse deal.

Edit: I understand donating cans of food your household isn't going to use, but in some school food drives for instance, students get extra credit for donating cans, which encourages people to go out and buy cans.