Food

7/16/2010

Haven't been working much on my website lately. Had a few things to work on and not much interesting to write about. This week however something caught my attention.

So many people have nothing. Several charities doing things for "poor"/less fortunate people.
This week I found out a hotel was throwing away lots of food. This is kind of normal in the business. However that particular day there was food left, not even half of the food was touched. It came straight from the oven. They used to work with a Charity, however the fact THEY had to come to the hotel, they didn't bother to come and pick it up.

This is really such a shame, there they have food for free and yet they let it throw away.
We pay so much for food, throw it away, when people are starving and have no money at all.
Are we so rich we can throw our money and food away?

3 Comments

Bafana.

7/18/2010 06:48:05 pm

Monsieur Le Dartagnan!!!!!

Quite a touching subject that you are mentioning.I'm totally fascinated that you are trying to do something for the less fortunate.

I have done some reading into Throwing Away vs. Giving to the Poor, however at the end of the day it would appear throwing away is the best option for health reasons. Poor people too do not deserve to eat food that is potentially a risk to their health. And I'm stressing P O T E N T I A L because it is a matter of odds, particularly in summer month when it is easier for food to go off.I'm stressing P O T E N T I A L because it isn't a matter of IF, it is a matter of WHEN. Some foods may not taste being off, however only after consumption you would be able to feel that you weren't supposed to eat them. And this primarily explains why hotels never allow you to take food away from their buildings, it explains why shopping conglomerates, even in needy place like India and Africa, are reluctant to donate leftover food.

It also boils down to the subject of basic consumer rights. When you purchase something from a store, you get a receipt for it,and in the EU and South Africa for any defect you can use that receipt as proof that something went wrong. Equally, at a legal level, if you have a judge or so in front you, you could produce that receipt and could use it as counter evidence on your side. When donating something, no receipt is given and again it would leave poor people worse off at the end of the day.

What should be done though, is to discourage large conglomerates and hotels etc, to manufacture less food. Society in general should be discouraged from consuming more than it can handle. The culture of waste will eventually catch up with us it is true, but it doesn't mean consciences of the relatively well off ought to be salved by making poorer people less healthy.

So it really is a question of health issues. The morality of making poorer people sick because everyone else is relatively well off. The rationale above probably explains too why beggars on european streets tend to reject sandwiches being offered to them, but they'd prefer canned food and more commonly cash.

But I agree with you on the culture of waste - it is wrong.

Hope all is well with you. I've been meaning to phone you but haven't had a chance yet.

Regards,
xBaf.

le_dartagnan

7/18/2010 07:04:59 pm

Hi,

I do agree there is a health issue when food is old. However here I'm talking food that's been made fresh and can still be eaten straight away. What I find a shame is that organisations don't bother to pick it up so they can serve it the same morning.

Sarah link

8/22/2010 03:33:40 am

Heyy,

I totally agree with you on this. It is shocking. I don't know if you remember the coffee shop pret a manger in Glasgow? They give away leftover food at the end of the day instead of throwing it away which will help somewhat. It is the big supermarket chains that are the worst. Places like marks and spencers and waitrose throw out food just because the packaging is slightly damaged when the contents are fine! They are the ones that should be doing more to help feed the people who can't afford to feed themselves.

Keep writing and stay positive =)

Sarah

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