More food in dumpsters: watermelons
After seeing the photos of fortune cookies in a dumpster, Boing Boing reader "555" sent this photo of watermelons in a dumpster.
This reminds me of the photos we posted in March about a food bank dump in a California desert.
the latest
latest episodes
I used to live near a factory that produced a well known brand of sweets. The mis-shaped sweets, unfit for sale but entirely edible, were thrown into a skip outside.
School children would break into (sneak through the fence - no bolt cutters needed...) the yard, fill up their rucksacks and sell them in the school playground the following day.
Eventually, rumors began to circulate about them mixing the mis-shaped packets with rat poison, and children becoming ill. We stopped after that.
Wow! Great post.
Watermelonsw?! PERFECTLY GOOD-LOOKING watermelons?!! Sacrilege!!!
Shameful. Our world's @#$'d up.
Companies would rather throw away food rather than give it to the hungry because if they intentionally give food there might be a chance they will get sued if one of the people gets sick. What jury in the world would not convict a "big bad" corporation trying to dump off seeming perfectly good looking but bad food to bunch of unsuspecting hungry people. Don't hungry people deserve decent food.
And to think, I just paid around $30 for a good sized melon the other day...
(in Japan)
I worked for a large chain of Fried Chicken restaurants for about 5 years as a manager. The word from the top was that we were not allowed to give away food left over at the end of the night. On one occasion, we had received an order for 150 3-piece dinners. The chicken had been cooked and was in holding cabinets, waiting to be packed when the order was cancelled at the last minute. It was my intention to donate the food to a local homeless shelter and the battered women's shelter. When the district manager saw us packing it up, he told us to throw it into the dumpster out back. He said that the company policy was that charity promoted begging and that if we gave it away, we would soon have homeless people hanging around our back door, begging for food. I am not sure The Colonel would have felt that way if he were still alive.
If it's like the watermelon I bought a couple weeks ago that's where they belong. The melon I purchased looked fine on the outside but was rancid on the inside.
Public safety is the reason prepared food is not donated. There is a real risk of unintentionally hurting those you are trying to help.
Even if they weren't going to feed hungry people with it, watermelons are great for composting. Wonder if there's a way to get produce sellers to agree to do at least that?
If it weren't for greed, there'd be no hunger. We have more than enough food for everybody. It's just getting it to the right places that provides the challenge.
As much as it's about the liability of possibly handing out tainted food, it's about keeping your products' prices stable. Once anyone starts handing out anything it becomes less valuable. Handing leftovers/surplus to those who need it would defeat the corporate goal of maximum profit.
I sure hope that those melons will find their way to a composting facility. I sure would love some for my farm.
Public safety is the reason prepared food is not donated. There is a real risk of unintentionally hurting those you are trying to help...if i repeat this out loud a number of times will it ever make me feel better?