The American Dream

[ciriuslea]

Hundreds of poor people waiting outside of a closed grocery store for the possibility of getting the remaining food is not the picture of the “American Dream.” Yet on March 23, outside the Laney Walker Supermarket in Augusta, Ga., that is exactly what happened.

http://www.globalres...-police/5329966

[F3SS]

You can thank government regulations for not letting the stores give that food away. They could at least give it to the homeless if they aren't allowed to sell it.

[Kowalski]

You can thank government regulations for not letting the stores give that food away. They could at least give it to the homeless if they aren't allowed to sell it.

[supervike]

It's hard to argue with the wastefulness of it all. I volunteer at the local Food Bank quite often, and they would have sent a truck and workers to pick all that up, to be distributed to those in need.

I wonder how many of those people there were truly hungry, and not just looking for a freebie?

[Grey14]

They were looking for a freebie. And if I was the bank I would have done the same thing. Giving the food to an organization is far different than giving it to an individual. What if the bank had said ok just let em take whatever they wanted. Then someone goes home and finds a mouse in a box of cereal or gets sick from eating some pasta and decides hey hey its payday I'm going to sue the bank. That is why the bank threw it away they didnt want to be open to any potential lawsuits.

[AsteroidX]

They were looking for a freebie. And if I was the bank I would have done the same thing. Giving the food to an organization is far different than giving it to an individual. What if the bank had said ok just let em take whatever they wanted. Then someone goes home and finds a mouse in a box of cereal or gets sick from eating some pasta and decides hey hey its payday I'm going to sue the bank. That is why the bank threw it away they didnt want to be open to any potential lawsuits.

An accurate statement but its still wasteful and a food bank would have made sense in this case. It shows how massive the disconnect between banks and people truly is..

[Wyrdlight]

There is a movement, mostly amongst students in the UK who simply take the food the supermarkets throw away. They work out what times each week certain stores throw everything and simply take it via the back door etc.

Sell by dates are waaaay safe.

Most products can be safely eaten far past the date on the packet. A friend of a freind got a weeks worth fo perfectly good food for nothing inluding a large chicken, several steaks, milk, and more bread and vegetables/fruit than he could phyiscally carry.

[RockabyeBillie]

Sorta related, but it reminds me of the story of the school who made the kids throw away their food in the cafeteria if they couldn't pay for it.

That's right, THROW IT AWAY. If these young kids had already been through the line and had their plates filled, they were made to throw their food away if they didn't have anymore money in their pre-paid lunch accounts.

So the food was wasted and the kids weren't fed.

Money money money money money!

http://www.delish.co...ed-school-lunch

I think I'll create a new post for this one.

Edited April 9, 2013 by RockabyeBillie

[ciriuslea]

Sorta related, but it reminds me of the story of the school who made the kids throw away their food in the cafeteria if they couldn't pay for it.

That's right, THROW IT AWAY. If these young kids had already been through the line and had their plates filled, they were made to throw their food away if they didn't have anymore money in their pre-paid lunch accounts.

So the food was wasted and the kids weren't fed.

Money money money money money!

http://www.delish.co...ed-school-lunch

I think I'll create a new post for this one.

That's barbaric, and totally lacking in any common sense, surely you would allow the kids to eat then make kids parent aware of the zero balance.

[Corp]

I used to work at a produce store and it made me feel horrible how much food we would throw away. Most of it would be packaged up for cheap but then it was mostly restaurant owners who would get the food. Thankfully the store up in a policy where all the food we used to reduce gets given to the local food bank.

[F3SS]

They were looking for a freebie. And if I was the bank I would have done the same thing. Giving the food to an organization is far different than giving it to an individual. What if the bank had said ok just let em take whatever they wanted. Then someone goes home and finds a mouse in a box of cereal or gets sick from eating some pasta and decides hey hey its payday I'm going to sue the bank. That is why the bank threw it away they didnt want to be open to any potential lawsuits.

I figured the same. Guarantee at least one in that crowd would've found a way to sue for something. When I worked at a grocery store every night they would throw away dozens and dozens of bagels and donuts. Not even the employees were allowed to have any. Total waste I think.

[iNvRG]

Good article until they blamed it on capitalism.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

you'e right, iNvRG, the "sue culture" is equally to blame.

[Wickian]

The main concern is probably accidental food poisoning which then leads to lawsuits. I wouldn't be all that surprised if the store still chose to simply throw the food away instead of giving it away.

[RavenHawk]

As already mentioned, there is the law suit factor. If someone got ill from ingesting something contaminated would create bad PR. In addition to this, is the loitering factor. If you start feeding others, they will start hanging out in the back and in the parking lot, turning away the regular customers and creating safety issues which could lead to other types of law suits. Stores and fast food places should be donating to food banks and food banks should follow strict quality control measures to assure food safety passing food out to the poor.