Finding food for those in need
There is more than enough food for everyone, but some would rather throw it out than share it.
This is a very serious consequence of allowing major corporations to distribute food for profit. They have no connection to the food, and to them it is only a commodity to sell to the highest bidder, rather than a human right that we literally can't live without. They'd rather see us die than allow us to eat what they throw out, that's why they lock their dumpsters and use giant compactors that destroy thousands of kilos of edible food every day. I've worked at grocery stores and restaurants, and have seen first hand how the quest to profit leads capitalists to willfully destroy mass amounts of perfectly good food. When I, and other workers like me ask if they can take this food home, or to a shelter, or to their hungry friends, instead of having it go to the dumpster, managers respond that it's ‘corporate policy' that everything gets thrown out if it isn't sold. Some of these managers and store owners try to justify this policy by arguing that they would be liable if someone were to get sick, but this is a lie. According to the ‘Donation of Food Act';
‘a person who donates food is not liable for damages resulting from injuries or death caused by the consumption of the food unless it was adulterated... and intended to injure the recipient of the food...'.
The real reason they don't want to donate their food to their underpaid workers, or other hungry people, is that it undermines the capitalist monopoly on food distribution. If anybody gets to eat without paying for it, they are cutting into the profit margins, and lowering the ‘value' of the food.
In other words; if the employees of a restaurant or grocery store can eat the wasted food for free they will not be forced to buy food from their employers. If the homeless, and other poor people can eat the food that capitalists throw out, they will not be forced to buy as much food, and others won't have to buy as much food to donate to the food banks either. The willful destruction of food is purely done out of greed. I used to deliver pizzas for Little Ceasers. And since they pre-make their Hot ‘n Ready pizzas they end up throwing away dozens of them every day. If the pizzas aren't bought they are thrown out within 45 minutes of them being made. I asked a manager if we could take the dozens of pizzas that were being thrown out every day and distribute them to hungry folks we know and they said that it is ‘corporate policy' that they throw them out, and that pizza is ‘unfit for human consumption after 45 minutes'. I was then told I'd be fired if they caught me taking these pizzas out of the trash. Tim Hortons is worse. Every day, hundreds of garbage bags filled with donuts, muffins, bagels and croissants end up in the trash. You can actually count on finding at least one massive bag filled only with food sitting in their dumpster every day. They too won't donate it to the hungry because of their ‘corporate policy'. But there is a growing global movement challenging this deliberate destruction of edible food, and its called Food Not Bombs.
There are over 400 chapters of Food Not Bombs around the world who protest war and poverty by gathering vegan and vegetarian food that would otherwise be wasted and serving it freely in public places. Although large corporations refuse to allow people to eat the food that they waste, there are some small businesses, and many farmers, who would prefer to see the food they produce serve a purpose other than rotting in a dumpster. Most people who aren't completely consumed with greed will gladly donate their surplus food to projects like ‘Food Not Bombs'. ‘Food Not Bombs' is one of the fastest-growing revolutionary movements and is widely supported around the world because it operates under the belief that ‘food is a right, not a privilege'.
Food Not Bombs puts politics into practice by directly reducing the amount of food that gets wasted while simultaneously reducing hunger and poverty by taking a direct, decentralized, grassroots approach to the problem by feeding thousands of people without relying on the government, or corporations for any help. There are no leaders, no bosses, no workers, and no pay, as it is an all volunteer collective. Food Not Bombs also works to support other global justice movements, and does so by providing activists with free food during major summits and actions. Food Not Bombs is always present at the School of Americas protest and feeds healthy vegan food to the thousands of protesters that converge on Fort Benning, Georgia to protest the training of dictators and war criminals.
Food Not Bombs also served free vegan food to the thousands who converged on Montebello a year and half ago to protest to Security and Prosperity Partnership. At the local level, London's Food Not Bombs often serves free food at anti-war and pro-environmental actions and rallies that happen here. The local chapter is always looking for more volunteers so they can cook more food for the revolution! To get involved in the local ‘food not bombs' chapter call the Empowerment Resource Centre at 519-601-2547 or email info@empowermentinfoshop.com and ask about the next meeting or serving.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
This is a very serious consequence of allowing major corporations to distribute food for profit. They have no connection to the food, and to them it is only a commodity to sell to the highest bidder, rather than a human right that we literally can't live without. They'd rather see us die than allow us to eat what they throw out, that's why they lock their dumpsters and use giant compactors that destroy thousands of kilos of edible food every day. I've worked at grocery stores and restaurants, and have seen first hand how the quest to profit leads capitalists to willfully destroy mass amounts of perfectly good food. When I, and other workers like me ask if they can take this food home, or to a shelter, or to their hungry friends, instead of having it go to the dumpster, managers respond that it's ‘corporate policy' that everything gets thrown out if it isn't sold. Some of these managers and store owners try to justify this policy by arguing that they would be liable if someone were to get sick, but this is a lie. According to the ‘Donation of Food Act';
‘a person who donates food is not liable for damages resulting from injuries or death caused by the consumption of the food unless it was adulterated... and intended to injure the recipient of the food...'.
The real reason they don't want to donate their food to their underpaid workers, or other hungry people, is that it undermines the capitalist monopoly on food distribution. If anybody gets to eat without paying for it, they are cutting into the profit margins, and lowering the ‘value' of the food.
In other words; if the employees of a restaurant or grocery store can eat the wasted food for free they will not be forced to buy food from their employers. If the homeless, and other poor people can eat the food that capitalists throw out, they will not be forced to buy as much food, and others won't have to buy as much food to donate to the food banks either. The willful destruction of food is purely done out of greed. I used to deliver pizzas for Little Ceasers. And since they pre-make their Hot ‘n Ready pizzas they end up throwing away dozens of them every day. If the pizzas aren't bought they are thrown out within 45 minutes of them being made. I asked a manager if we could take the dozens of pizzas that were being thrown out every day and distribute them to hungry folks we know and they said that it is ‘corporate policy' that they throw them out, and that pizza is ‘unfit for human consumption after 45 minutes'. I was then told I'd be fired if they caught me taking these pizzas out of the trash. Tim Hortons is worse. Every day, hundreds of garbage bags filled with donuts, muffins, bagels and croissants end up in the trash. You can actually count on finding at least one massive bag filled only with food sitting in their dumpster every day. They too won't donate it to the hungry because of their ‘corporate policy'. But there is a growing global movement challenging this deliberate destruction of edible food, and its called Food Not Bombs.
There are over 400 chapters of Food Not Bombs around the world who protest war and poverty by gathering vegan and vegetarian food that would otherwise be wasted and serving it freely in public places. Although large corporations refuse to allow people to eat the food that they waste, there are some small businesses, and many farmers, who would prefer to see the food they produce serve a purpose other than rotting in a dumpster. Most people who aren't completely consumed with greed will gladly donate their surplus food to projects like ‘Food Not Bombs'. ‘Food Not Bombs' is one of the fastest-growing revolutionary movements and is widely supported around the world because it operates under the belief that ‘food is a right, not a privilege'.
Food Not Bombs puts politics into practice by directly reducing the amount of food that gets wasted while simultaneously reducing hunger and poverty by taking a direct, decentralized, grassroots approach to the problem by feeding thousands of people without relying on the government, or corporations for any help. There are no leaders, no bosses, no workers, and no pay, as it is an all volunteer collective. Food Not Bombs also works to support other global justice movements, and does so by providing activists with free food during major summits and actions. Food Not Bombs is always present at the School of Americas protest and feeds healthy vegan food to the thousands of protesters that converge on Fort Benning, Georgia to protest the training of dictators and war criminals.
Food Not Bombs also served free vegan food to the thousands who converged on Montebello a year and half ago to protest to Security and Prosperity Partnership. At the local level, London's Food Not Bombs often serves free food at anti-war and pro-environmental actions and rallies that happen here. The local chapter is always looking for more volunteers so they can cook more food for the revolution! To get involved in the local ‘food not bombs' chapter call the Empowerment Resource Centre at 519-601-2547 or email info@empowermentinfoshop.com and ask about the next meeting or serving.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
