Hungry People in America

[washuguy]

THIS IS INEXCUSABLE... Give me one reason why this is ok, one. There are hungry people all over the place that need food, and THIS happens? This is absolutely ridiculous dude. What happened to the American humanitarian efforts? We send all this food and money to other countries, and can't feed our own? Oh wait... Excuse me... We can feed our own, we just choose to throw it away. This is backwards, wasteful, and erratic, we don't know what to do with ourselves, a lot of people could use those fruits and vegetables. Honestly, this is ridiculous, and the human race, sad to say it, is doomed. Short video. Watch, feel free to discuss...

[Lady Nadia]

this is sad to see. but thats the way these businesses are. theyre hardheaded n theyd rather throw all that food away instead of give it away for free. money money money .. only thing businesses care about.

[washuguy]

You said it right there, hard of heart. I mean, these guys can't make money off people that can't AFFORD to buy it, cause they have no money, so it's just plain stupid. My moms works in fast food, and it burns her up having to see all that food thrown away at the end of the day. Just plain sick...

[amtalx]

Interest pieces like this tug at your heart, but are often incredibly naive. Food is discarded from restaurants for safety reasons. It is either expired, or partially consumed. This 'waste' is the bi-product of having high health standards. Skirting them leads to food borne illness, which is a major problem in the developing world where those standards don't exist.

[Sayara]

Interest pieces like this tug at your heart, but are often incredibly naive. Food is discarded from restaurants for safety reasons. It is either expired, or partially consumed. This 'waste' is the bi-product of having high health standards. Skirting them leads to food borne illness, which is a major problem in the developing world where those standards don't exist.

this, painfully

[Sinue_v2]

Interest pieces like this tug at your heart, but are often incredibly naive. Food is discarded from restaurants for safety reasons. It is either expired, or partially consumed. This 'waste' is the bi-product of having high health standards. Skirting them leads to food borne illness, which is a major problem in the developing world where those standards don't exist.

This, but it's also a problem of having subsidies and a consequence of the global market. To (over) simplify things, the price of food is set by supply and demand. If farmers were to simply give away their excess crops to the hungry, it would flood the market and reduce the price of the crops they are selling dramatically. If they can't make a decent price on their crops, they can't afford to maintain their farms and livelihoods. And if they go out of business, then we all go hungry.

[May0]

I have I high metabolism so I can eat whatever I like but I generally don't eat that much since I have a poor appetite. This has lead to me being 6'2" and only weighing 135-140 lbs. Personally I think its okay to be a little bit hungry at times. If you eat all the time it kinda takes the joy out of eating since there's no need to satisfy a desire to consume.

[Katrina]

This young girl mustered the courage to speak in front of national and world representatives on hunger, and environmental issues at the UN Earth summit in 92. The powers that be and government leaders could learn a thing or two from the message.

[washuguy]

Interest pieces like this tug at your heart, but are often incredibly naive. Food is discarded from restaurants for safety reasons. It is either expired, or partially consumed. This 'waste' is the bi-product of having high health standards. Skirting them leads to food borne illness, which is a major problem in the developing world where those standards don't exist.

Not all the time... I think it's just as naive to think that EVERY time the food from these places gets thrown away, that its for "health and safety reasons." A lot these people don't care about that. If that's the case, those that sell old food and are dishonest about doing it, wouldn't do it. they do just enough to get by to make sure they're keeping the law. I understand not giving it to the employees in some cases cause you run the risk of being sued... But homeless people that could care less? You might as well give it to them if you're going to throw it away. The whole "We're not giving it to the homeless cause they'll get sick" excuse gets old. If that's a major concern, lets go the whole 10 yards, why stop at health? Get these people of the street, employ them, and get them some food. Give people a warning as to how long the food has been kept around, and let them make the decision and pay the price later, if they choose to eat it. But I've seen food, just like in the video, that's been thrown away and looks PERFECTLY fine.

And I like high health standards also, but have you seen the type of food they're selling people...? But that's another discussion in itself. LOL

This, but it's also a problem of having subsidies and a consequence of the global market. To (over) simplify things, the price of food is set by supply and demand. If farmers were to simply give away their excess crops to the hungry, it would flood the market and reduce the price of the crops they are selling dramatically. If they can't make a decent price on their crops, they can't afford to maintain their farms and livelihoods. And if they go out of business, then we all go hungry.

Right, but the thing is, farmers don't get funded or supported as much as say, Mcdonanlds or other fast food giants that help people dig a grave with their teeth. The responsibility is on the giants to help feed people, they have things in abundance to give away, not the farmers (usually). So while it's not the best thing, FOR NOW at least, those guys should be helping feed people, rather that just get rid of it for "Health and safety concerns", until the farmers can get to a point where they CAN give things away. But like you said, supply and demand, they're basically giving people what the want and can afford (Fast food places), so it's tough luck for farmers too... A lot of things to sort out, it gets deep.

I have I high metabolism so I can eat whatever I like but I generally don't eat that much since I have a poor appetite. This has lead to me being 6'2" and only weighing 135-140 lbs. Personally I think its okay to be a little bit hungry at times. If you eat all the time it kinda takes the joy out of eating since there's no need to satisfy a desire to consume.

You have a high metabolism NOW... LOL Seriously though, it's good that you're not so dependent on eating, but you need your nutrients dude (Just like every other malnourished American.). And we're not supposed to starve ourselves, unless you're fasting, which is a good discipline, and good for removing toxins from the body (Why this isn't taught on a larger scale is a mystery...). But yeah, I suggest you take advantage of healthy eating if you haven't already, if you abuse your fast metabolism now, you'll pay for it later, big time.

This young girl mustered the courage to speak in front of national and world representatives on hunger, and environmental issues at the UN Earth summit in 92. The powers that be and government leaders could learn a thing or two from the message.

Girl's Speech @ UN Conference on Environment and Development - YouTube

Awesome. Learn a thing or two? How about learning to stop being cruddy? LOL

[amtalx]

Not all the time... I think it's just as naive to think that EVERY time the food from these places gets thrown away, that its for "health and safety reasons." A lot these people don't care about that. If that's the case, those that sell old food and are dishonest about doing it, wouldn't do it. they do just enough to get by to make sure they're keeping the law. I understand not giving it to the employees in some cases cause you run the risk of being sued... But homeless people that could care less? You might as well give it to them if you're going to throw it away. The whole "We're not giving it to the homeless cause they'll get sick" excuse gets old. If that's a major concern, lets go the whole 10 yards, why stop at health? Get these people of the street, employ them, and get them some food. Give people a warning as to how long the food has been kept around, and let them make the decision and pay the price later, if they choose to eat it. But I've seen food, just like in the video, that's been thrown away and looks PERFECTLY fine.

And I like high health standards also, but have you seen the type of food they're selling people...? But that's another discussion in itself. LOL

What then may I ask is their reason for throwing away food? A businesses primary objective is to generate revenue, and you don't do that by discarding perfectly good product. I suppose this habit is a spiteful 'fuck you' to the planet just for kicks. If businesses are throwing away food that could pad their profit margin, there must be a good reason for it. Again, safety and regulations.

The danger of expired food isn't an excuse. It's a fact of life, and grim one at that in regions of the world where the don't enjoy the luxury of health and safety standards. Are you seriously trying to claim that because something looks fine, it is? E. Coli and Salmonella don't come with flashing lights and noise makers. The reason we have expiration dates is precisely because tainted food can appear fine. Our best method of avoiding pathogens is to date food and dispose of it after the risk of contamination becomes too high.

Judging from the number of topics like this, you seem to be taken in quite easily by this type of propaganda. It's an oversimplified and dangerous way to look at the world. Systemic world problems are complex, and can't be fixed with one-size-fits-all grassroots campaigns. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and blindly leaping to activism without any understanding of the issue as a whole will cause more problems than it fixes. These issues need to be carefully examined with long term consequences in mind, not a quick-draw solution.