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Food bank day at work


Indy

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Once a month, a food bank comes out in one of their mobile units to deliver food.  People from work volunteer to distribute it.

 

Always nice to see the people show up with their new collapsible wagons to haul their free food in from the mobile unit over to their newer Volvo SUV.  Looks like it's rough being poor.

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3 minutes ago, Indy said:

Once a month, a food bank comes out in one of their mobile units to deliver food.  People from work volunteer to distribute it.

 

Always nice to see the people show up with their new collapsible wagons to haul their free food in from the mobile unit over to their newer Volvo SUV.  Looks like it's rough being poor.

Were they talking on their iPhone X too?  I hate that!

Tom

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6 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Were they talking on their iPhone X too?  I hate that!

Tom

Didn't pay that close attention as I was walking back from Target as they were heading to their Volvo with wagon full of food. 

 

Wonder why they parked on the other end of the parking lot instead of close like the people with old beat up vehicles.

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They used to do volunteer days at work where they would pay you to go do volunteer projects, one of the things was a food bank. My buddy worked at it and came back pissed over all the nice cars, demanding customers, and general lack of gratitude. 

His take was the people that really need help are too proud to take it, and the people that show up are mostly greedy self centered spoiled assholes.

 

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I guess, anyone can do it too.  Not sure why wealthy folks have to screw over poor folks by literally taking the food out of their hands, but you don't get to be wealthy by being nice (usually).

I always get a chuckle out of folks angry at other folks doing something we all could do but choose not to.  I could go beg on the corner of a busy intersection and make some "free" money, then hop in my fancy car, and head home to my opulent house. BUT... I don't.

I hear folks bitch about how much money a toll taker on the NJ turnpike or one of the NYC tunnels makes, and I always say they should apply.  My bro likes to complain that the ticket taker on his train into Manhattan makes low six figures for such an easy job. I ask WTF he doesn't look into getting that gig.

Tom

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I have noticed that many of the people lining up to receive free food -

which is supposedly designated for poor people who can't afford enough food, mind you -

are often grossly obese.

They are obviously getting enough food from somewhere, and they all can't have some sort of physical issue or condition that makes them tend toward obesity.

Can you imagine the uproar if some charitable organization instituted some sort of screening program to get free food?  "I'm sorry ma'am, but you're too fat to get this free food."  Never happen.

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1 hour ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

I have noticed that many of the people lining up to receive free food -

which is supposedly designated for poor people who can't afford enough food, mind you -

are often grossly obese.

They are obviously getting enough food from somewhere, and they all can't have some sort of physical issue or condition that makes them tend toward obesity.

Can you imagine the uproar if some charitable organization instituted some sort of screening program to get free food?  "I'm sorry ma'am, but you're too fat to get this free food."  Never happen.

There is the saying "beggars can't be choosers", so it seemingly makes sense that folks who need (or want) food to feed themselves and/or their family would be at the "mercy" of the quality of food offered by the charity.  Garbage in (crappy/cheap foods) = Garbage out (poor health and obesity).  

It's sort of a problem that cries out for holistic approaches, but relies on scattered volunteer & charitable approaches. Welfare in America is not really something that has the cool factor of a new F-35 or a return to the Moon.  

Tom

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I had to Google collapsible wagon. Never heard of that.

The poor are often obese. They can't afford healthful food. The high calorie crap food is very cheap.

I went grocery shopping yesterday. Prices really are much higher recently. I am not sure how our poor afford to eat properly. I buy organic. It is not a great idea to eat food covered in round up. All conventional produce is coated in pesticides that cause cancer, birth defects and all kinds of maladies. Look at rent prices. People can't live on minimum wage. Wage stagnation is a fact of the last 30+ years. You can't deny that. I have a good job. If I lived alone, I would be struggling.

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2 minutes ago, 2Far said:

Or don't have the means to come and get it.

Or time.  Poor folks often lack both the means (reliable transportation) and the time (working and/or childcare related), and likely also lack the flexibility (try telling your boss the hours you need off) to drop by a food bank event.

Again, though, it is a charity.  If you don't like the cause, don't contribute to it.  I contribute to SOME and CAFB, and they do a service I am unable/unwilling to do myself.

Tom

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42 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

The shower? You have a shower in the camper? You must use a lot of beauty products if you need a trailer.

A family showering on 20 gallons of water means dumping tanks and refilling often, though trailer comes in handy for hauling water, but it's a pain in the ass if the place has a decent bath house.  Now if we at least have water hookup, yeah, we use the shower in the camper.

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40 minutes ago, 2Far said:

Or don't have the means to come and get it.

If I were truly poor, I would not own a vehicle.  It is really doable to be car free if you live close to your job, and groceries.  

 

5 minutes ago, Indy said:

A family showering on 20 gallons of water means dumping tanks and refilling often, though trailer comes in handy for hauling water, but it's a pain in the ass if the place has a decent bath house.  Now if we at least have water hookup, yeah, we use the shower in the camper.

Oh read.  I forgot you are a larger traveling gang of hippies than we are.  so the trailer is to carry a bunch of kids crap.  HAHA

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1 hour ago, Dirtyhip said:

If I were truly poor, I would not own a vehicle.  It is really doable to be car free if you live close to your job, and groceries.  

I agree as a person with time, money, a bike, no kids, safe roads, and plenty of options!  But "food deserts" do exist, and time/logistics seem like the more likely issue poor folks face.

Image result for food desert map

Tom

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44 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I agree as a person with time, money, a bike, no kids, safe roads, and plenty of options!  But "food deserts" do exist, and time/logistics seem like the more likely issue poor folks face.

Image result for food desert map

Tom

Yup.  The food desert is a thing.  

Our tiny house was one of the smallest and least expensive in our neighborhood.  It is coveted and expensive here.  We would not been able to afford a larger home in this same zone.  We bought here for convenience to services.  We could have doubled the size of our home in the suburbs, but then you have to drive to everything. 

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3 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

Garbage in (crappy/cheap foods) = Garbage out (poor health and obesity).  

 

3 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

The high calorie crap food is very cheap.

Not differing with either of these points, but I suspect I may be misunderstanding something.

People become obese, for the most part, by ingesting more calories than they expend.  Or, in other words, eating more than they need.  A person who is grossly obese is typically eating far more than they need. and doing so over a long period time. 

So, what is the logic for a grossly obese person - who certainly appears to be getting more than enough to eat - standing in a line to receive free food that is supposed to go to people who do not get enough to eat?

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You can be fat and suffer from malnutrition.  An apple is about 2 bucks a piece.  You can get a snickers for half of that, and it has higher calories.  It costs much less to eat poorly.  Those kind of foods promote obesity.  

If we substituted people's diet with mostly canned and boxed crappy foods, I am willing to bet that many people would get heavier.  

There is a link to affluence and better health.  Richer people have access to things like gyms, better food, better education, and outdoor attire and accessories.  

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5 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

An apple is about 2 bucks a piece.  You can get a snickers for half of that, and it has higher calories.

Perhaps that's part of the disconnect for me.  Around here one can buy a 4-5 pound bag of apples for the price of 4 or 5 Snickers bars.

It would seem to me that the choice would exist to either by a larger quantity of cheap poor quality food and become badly overweight, or use the same amount of money to by a lesser quantity of more healthy food and not gain so much weight.

Or expressed another way, would it seem logical if a person has enough money to buy so much poor quality food that he becomes obese, that he would have enough money to buy better quality food (but not so much of it) and manage his weight better?

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7 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

I agree as a person with time, money, a bike, no kids, safe roads, and plenty of options!  But "food deserts" do exist, and time/logistics seem like the more likely issue poor folks face.

Image result for food desert map

Tom

Food deserts exist easily in the city where I live.  But not for self... And I don't have a car since I consciously chose to live in a smaller place but be within 15 min. walk in different directions to 3 grocery stores.  Anyway as for what Indy identified of people in wealthier looking cars and attire..but not parking close to food bank deliberately...one hopes it's not habitual for those people who should defer to others who are really poor.  You never know.  I can see a poor person hanging desperately to their car.

Would many forum members be like this if they became very poor?  Or would a complete cycling, public transit, walking be a viable lifestyle for them?

As some of us may know, there are wealthy neighbourhoods in Toronto and Vancouver, where well-off people don't even own a car

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8 hours ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

 

Not differing with either of these points, but I suspect I may be misunderstanding something.

People become obese, for the most part, by ingesting more calories than they expend.  Or, in other words, eating more than they need.  A person who is grossly obese is typically eating far more than they need. and doing so over a long period time. 

So, what is the logic for a grossly obese person - who certainly appears to be getting more than enough to eat - standing in a line to receive free food that is supposed to go to people who do not get enough to eat?

Hmm, not so fast.  There seems to be a fair amount of evidence that obesity is tied to fat storage (duh) caused primarily from insulin disregulation and the over consumption of carbohydrates.  It's possible to eat an abundance of (good) fat and not gain weight as long as the carbs are close to 0.  I'm not completely convinced this is wise, and there are no studies that have (or can) prove this in a double blind way, but it's clear that carbs are not your friend.  I am slowly removing them from my life.  For me that's really hard as I've grown up on, and subsisted on carbs.

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