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We feel blessed to live in a community with such a generous spirit, and to take part in sharing food that would otherwise rot instead of feeding the hungry. We are by no means rich ourselves, we are struggling to get by and have never had a $150K yearly income, far from it. It is distressing to hear the attitudes of some more fortunate, but thankfully not all people feel that way.
I believe that most people have compassion and want to help the less fortunate. However, this compassion should be accompanied with focus and energy toward the roots of poverty: primarily (but not always) bad personal choices.
I know posters are hesitatant to speak the obvious out of fear of being labeled racist, but as one who grew up "disadvantaged" the problem is clear.
Personal story: As our neighborhood began to decay and businesses moved away due to the rising cost of crime, we were left with just one little corner grocery store.
The owner was a very kind Jewish man (we all called him Sooky) who extended credit to the poor neighbors when they didn't have the money, which was often.
He'd been in that location for 40 years and loved the community inspite of the increasing danger.
That ended one morning as he arrived to open the store, at the same time as he'd done for decades, with his black briefcase in hand. He was robbed and shot in the head, dying instantly. He had about $40 on him.
There hasn't been a store in that area since and it's been over 25 years later.
I live in Carrboro and DH volunteers at a local church food pantry almost daily. Sometimes he drives the van to pick up the donated food that is distributed. The donations are from local grocers, including TJ's, WF, HT and FL. There may be others, I don't know. I worked once at a grocery store in Illinois, there is an incredible amount of waste, and we strongly support the local initiative to get this food to anyone who asks for it.
Firstly your DH is to be commended for his efforts.
Re the waste, my jaw hit the floor one day in my local HT, around 8pm when I witnessed the removal of the food from the hot table (used to be Asian table but now they have separate tables for Western and Asian buffets). I saw the lady dumping tray after tray into a garbage bag receptacle, at first when I saw only one tray go in I thought it was going to some further use, when I saw all of it going into the same receptacle, rendering all of it useless, I asked her what they did with it, she said they threw it all away. The food was perfectly good, had been on heat trays. Heck I would have taken it off their hands, there were a ton of chicken wings and things like that.
I don't know the logistics, legalities, liabilities or practicalities of what to do about such things but it made me horrified and embarrassed to know this is an everyday practice.
The history of minority and disadvantaged neighborhoods in this country is quite complicated. Considering it hasn’t even been one generation since some of the awful things we’ve done to those neighborhoods (redlining, urban renewal, plowing highways through poor neighborhoods etc....)
I’m not sure what should be done going forward but if you are historically honest, it might not be as easy as telling people to pick themselves off the floor considering the mistrust and fear that’s been cultivated.
Re the waste, my jaw hit the floor one day in my local HT, around 8pm when I witnessed the removal of the food from the hot table (used to be Asian table but now they have separate tables for Western and Asian buffets). I saw the lady dumping tray after tray into a garbage bag receptacle, at first when I saw only one tray go in I thought it was going to some further use, when I saw all of it going into the same receptacle, rendering all of it useless, I asked her what they did with it, she said they threw it all away. The food was perfectly good, had been on heat trays. Heck I would have taken it off their hands, there were a ton of chicken wings and things like that.
I don't know the logistics, legalities, liabilities or practicalities of what to do about such things but it made me horrified and embarrassed to know this is an everyday practice.
Sorry, turkeydance is right, you can't redistribute prepared foods, due to potential food safety issues.
The history of minority and disadvantaged neighborhoods in this country is quite complicated. Considering it hasn’t even been one generation since some of the awful things we’ve done to those neighborhoods (redlining, urban renewal, plowing highways through poor neighborhoods etc....)
I’m not sure what should be done going forward but if you are historically honest, it might not be as easy as telling people to pick themselves off the floor considering the mistrust and fear that’s been cultivated.
The problem with this argument is that even during the era of overt discrimination, codified racist policies, and 2nd class citizenship in the depths of Jim Crow (roughly late 50's and prior), by most objective measures, minority communities were much less dysfunctional, crime-ridden, and blighted than many are at present.
One key stat that stands out is the AA illegitimacy rate: 12% in 1940...over 70% currently. Why this isn't seen as a national crisis is beyond me.
The greatest step toward reducing poverty would be promoting and encouraging two-parent homes where fathers do not abandon their children.
Sugarcoating the truth is not constructive; and problems cannot be solved by hiding from reality and making excuses for irresponsible behavior.
There's nothing immoral about expecting those who can do for themselves, to do for themselves.
The problem with this argument is that even during the era of overt discrimination, codified racist policies, and 2nd class citizenship in the depths of Jim Crow (roughly late 50's and prior), by most objective measures, minority communities were much less dysfunctional, crime-ridden, and blighted than many are at present.
One key stat that stands out is the AA illegitimacy rate: 12% in 1940...over 70% currently. Why this isn't seen as a national crisis is beyond me.
The greatest step toward reducing poverty would be promoting and encouraging two-parent homes where fathers do not abandon their children.
Sugarcoating the truth is not constructive; and problems cannot be solved by hiding from reality and making excuses for irresponsible behavior.
There's nothing immoral about expecting those who can do for themselves, to do for themselves.
I agree with you - but what has changed from 1940 to now? It seems like answering that question also can go a long way to figuring out some concrete steps going forward. Why are there more single parent households? I’m not the subject matter expert so I’m not the one to make these claims or conclusions. (And if there are more single parent households, doesn’t mean that these families have a tougher time doing what other normal families can do for themselves?)
Why are there more single parent households? I’m not the subject matter expert so I’m not the one to make these claims or conclusions. (And if there are more single parent households, doesn’t mean that these families have a tougher time doing what other normal families can do for themselves?)
The causes of the epidemic of fatherless black children would go into controversial socio-political and moral assertions that would go beyond the scope of this thread.
My main focus was to 1) counter the fallacy that these food deserts are the result of racism and inequality when crime is the key cause; making it unattractive to invest and unsustainable to operate low-margin businesses in these communities and 2) point out the undeniable nexus between family breakdown and crime.
The causes of the epidemic of fatherless black children would go into controversial socio-political and moral assertions that would go beyond the scope of this thread.
My main focus was to 1) counter the fallacy that these food deserts are the result of racism and inequality when crime is the key cause; making it unattractive to invest and unsustainable to operate low-margin businesses in these communities and 2) point out the undeniable nexus between family breakdown and crime.
The family broke down when the middle class starting breaking down, just look at the decline of marriage rates starting in the late 60's/early 70's. You can't separate economics/rise of income inequality from the decline of traditional family structures. African Americans were the canary in the coal mine in this regard. Things are only getting worse, eventually it will pretty much be only upper income folks getting married. I don't know what the solution is, other than recognizing the problems, and not being so out of touch like some of the other posters here
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