File under: every bit helps.

So far this year, Seattle-based Alaska Airlines has donated more than 80,000 pounds of unused first-class snacks to food banks in Seattle and Portland.

According to an airline spokesperson, the donated food is collected from the snack baskets offered to first class passengers and from meals provided for flight attendants where the outside packaging has been opened but the contents have not.

The snacks include a rotating selection of such items as almond butter, dried fruit, salami, cheese spread, crackers, cookies, energy bars, salmon jerky and hummus.

Donating uneaten, but still-perfectly-good food items to area food banks is a great idea. Hopefully other airlines do the same. Especially now that food prices have gone up, donations to food banks have gone down, and more people than ever are turning to the food banks for help.

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