Where you are living now, has anyone ever starved to death because they failed to secure a dinner roll, half eaten burger, etc.?

No one in my country (U.S.A.) has to starve to death. With Government programs and outreach from churches it doesn’t have to happen.

No, but I have known people to freeze to death because although there are food banks here there are no shelters. By here I mean my town, not USA

There are a modest amount of transients in my community, and a modest homeless population. I am not aware of anyone ever starving to death though, no. My city opened a homeless campground a few years ago and there are several outreach groups and one facility for free meals. This is a foothill community and many come up here from the capitol city in the summers. A homeless vacation destination it seems.

Where I live we have food banks but because they have decided that more people are going there than ever before they have concluded this is a temporary solution as they wanted it to be and people are just going there for free groceries.
So they have decided to close them down and start other programs.
Did you know that the queen of England basically has enough money that she could obliterate poverty altogether.

The only places I can recall hearing in recent decades that widespread hunger has been a problem are North Korea, Albania and north Africa.

I volunteer at a food bank, so I know it could happen in my town, if we did not work harder.

Not starve to death, because there are programs to keep kids from starving. But I have teacher friends who have kids who show up hungry, who would not eat all weekend if they didn’t take food home from school on Friday.

And I know people with food insecurity, because the food stamps have been cut.

But not malnourished to the point of death, just so poorly nourished that they have long term health issues.

Not starve to death in the USA. But I know people that don’t give a shit if they walk into 7/11 grab some shit and run. The clerk isn’t going to chase them since it is usually a single person working and it it isn’t worth the fight for 7.50 a hour. It isn’t like there is a shortage of food here. Just a shortage of legal access to it due to a weak safety net and massive profits while fucking the wage slaves on the floor.

There is a homeless guy here in town with 3 Golden retrievers and little wagon he pulls around. I have bought him a bag of groceries several times and dog food. There but for the grace of god go I, or anyone else. In these economic times one never knows, and while I am not religious, that phrase does carry a lot of weight. I also do not believe in pretending to offer help without dignity. I abhore people that give welfare fare, like top ramen and industrial size cartons of oatmeal.

When I give, I give quality food. A bag full of healthy, filling, non-perishables, and a nice dinner item, like a big deli sandwich, potatoe salad, fresh fruits, dried fruits, nuts, granola and other foods I would eat myself. I think it degrading to ass-ume that just because someone is poor you toss a box of macaroni and cheese at them as if you are offering up steak and lobster. Pffft!

Not that I know of, but here’s a story. In Winnipeg I went to a fare with some friends, and when it was done we went to eat over at A&W’s. This was like 11PM here. So we’re eating and this bum walks in and stops at a table where the people hadn’t finished their food. Almost a whole hamburger was sitting there on its own. The bum grabs it, but one of the staff comes by and tells him to put it down and leave. The bum obeys.
For a while I wondered, why didn’t he just let him take the food? I understand why now. If they let him have it once, he might come back and try again. I suppose that’s no good for business, because nobody likes dirty bums picking up scraps when you’re eating. But this was closing time, barely anyone was there, they could have just let him have the burger. Fuck ethics, people have to eat, even if they’re homeless. And I’m guessing that’s why he came in this late, so he wouldn’t bother too many people.
Had I been that homeless dude, I wouldn’t have obeyed. The burger was already in his hands, I would have just walked out with it, what’s the staff gonna do about it? I know I know, pleasant environment for the customers, I worked in restaurants and bars. Never any fast food joints though.

I’m going to guess starving to death here (NYC, but this applies to USA in general) is fairly unusual. But hunger is not unheard of. Even less unheard of is poor nutrition and health problems that accompany it.

@Symbeline That’s so sad.

Yeah, and what do you think they do with uneaten food, they huck it in the garbage. :/ Wasted hamburger, hungry bum. Gotta love the system.

^^^ Not!
If I were a restaurant owner with homeless people around I would leave out all the still decent, edibles on a table out back and then pitch what was left in the morning. People, cats, fucking rats…let other life forms benefit from the obscene amount of wasted food.

I agree, but the problem with that if you own a restaurant is that you’ll alienate your clientele away this way, since most people are either afraid or don’t like the homeless. That’s not how things should work, but if things worked out better, there wouldn’t be hungry people in a nation that has more than enough food for everyone 10 times over to begin with.
I guess you could make some rule, only come during closing time or some such thing.

@Symbeline True..I know that, but shit..it is criminal how much restaurant food is thrown out.
There was a story in the city here where this little old lady was using her SS check to make food for the homeless and they made her stop because she was not preparing it in a commercial kitchen space. WTF! Fucking government..it;s okay for a homeless person to dumpster dive but a citizen can’t make soup and sandwiches in her own kitchen and hand them out. Pffft!

A few of my friends worked at a KFC in high school and actually thought it was company policy to put the leftovers at the end of the night shift out for the homeless to collect. Like they would box it all up and include butter packets in with boxes of biscuits. From what I have gathered this wasn’t a actual policy. It was just what they did.

@johnpowell It’s what I’d do too, until I was fired. haha

@Coloma :: The Little Ceasers buy my apartment does the hot and ready pizzas for 5 bucks. They put a lot of them outside once they get to be a hour old. All boxed up and stacked in a clean place. I think part of the reasoning is so that people don’t dig through the dumpster for them. I will grab one if I happen to pass by. I have never gotten sick from one.

@johnpowell That’s awesome!

And I should add that your view is pretty fucked-up when you think a dinner roll, or half eaten burger is good enough. I can dig up a pound of worms in a hour in my neighbors yard. By that measure nobody should fall asleep hungry. If you want the poor to eat worms just come out and say it.

@johnpowell There was a Dunkin’ Donuts by here that at the end of the work day, any doughnut that wasn’t sold were thrown out. People always went there after hours and got them out of the dumpster. But eventually they started putting a lock on the dumpster so people couldn’t get at the food. They should have just done what your place does.

If there was, how likely do you think it is that it would show up in the media?
Or even recognisable as such?
Has anyone ever starved to death here? I do not know.

If I had starved to death, how would I be posting on Fluther?

@ragingloli The media in the US is pretty good about reporting stuff like that. There are regular reports on homeless that die on the streets, usually from exposure but also from untreated illnesses.

We have had young kids that have starved to death because their parents didn’t feed them.

@Symbeline So we’re eating and this bum walks in and stops at a table where the people hadn’t finished their food.
The reason why he was cast out, burger or no burger, was if others seen him as a ”bum”, then he is less than human and not needed to be around. The business does not want offensive people hanging around. As you say, they may get creeped out by those people; certainly when you are eating with your family. Here in the US, not every homeless person is a bum, some are victims of the economy, unwittingly or by ignorance. When the housing bubble burse a while back and not as many houses were being built, if you were a tradesman you had a target on your back. If the company wanted to trim the fat and you were up there in age, close to retirement, you might be let go. It might be looked at that you could survive off your unemployment until your SSI kicked in, if it didn’t, you might end up on the street. Outside of that, it is all legal CMB.

@bolwerk But hunger is not unheard of.
I would agree, but as you pointed out, never to the point of death. I know homeless people who feel they are starving if they had to go 10 hours with out food, many less. IMO many people over exaggerate hunger from actual starvation where that next meal is not just to make you more comfortable, but the tipping point to if you see another morning.

@Coloma If I were a restaurant owner with homeless people around I would leave out all the still decent, edibles on a table out back and then pitch what was left in the morning. People, cats, fucking rats…let other life forms benefit from the obscene amount of wasted food.
Here in the US bad laws hamper good intentions. You could do that, and you may get fined. Years back when my mother was alive she knew guy. She would let him eat at her house, and he would bring her food pantry items he could not use. At certain times he would get up and say ”See you mama (since he adopted her as a mother) I have to get to so-and-so eating place”. She would ask him why he was going there if he had no money and he said it was near the time they tossed the kitchen bag, the bag with all the uneaten food that was cooked and not bought or wrongly ordered. She asked him why he had to go into the dumpster to get it, why could they not just hand it to him at the back door. He told her because it was illegal for the fast food place or restaurant to do so. If the food went out from the kitchen and came back, or it was cooked and not purchased in a set number of hours etc., it was legally considered garbage, thus disqualifying it for human consumption even though it was still quitter edible. Then there was the issue of if it was given to anyone and they became ill they could sue. The best that could be done was they wrapped it extra tight, and tossed it last as to be on top. And the best he could do was to be there within 5 minutes of them tossing on top of the garbage in the dumpster.

@Hypocrisy_Central Such bullshit, but the way of these “modern” times when lawsuits abound.

I also wanted to say that my local animal services gives out free bags of pet food for homeless peoples pets, or those in need. I think that is so cool. I do not begrudge homeless people taking on a, more than likely, stray animal. Jeez….two can fare better than one and love is love and comfort is comfort.

I just saw a story about a homeless guy that was dying of cancer and was taken to hospice. His dog was taken by animal control people and has been adopted but his dying wish was to see his dog again. They had the most poignant pictures of his beloved dog lying in his hospital bed with him.

Yeah, the word ’‘bum’’ is not what I should be using. But in that part of the hood in Winnipeg, that was the unofficial term for a homeless person, and it stuck with me after all these years, even when I speak/think in French.

There was a case last year (or maybe the year before) about an elderly woman in my city who starved to death not because she was unable to afford food but because she was too frail to go out and get any, and her social care had been cut. I imagine she had no friends or family and wasn’t tech-savvy enough to order online.

I don’t think anyone here starves to death because they are unable to afford food. Even homeless people have access to food banks and charities. But there are plenty of people who live on the streets because they are unable to afford a home.