Advice to the Hungry (US Only)
NOT COPYRIGHTED … spread widely
This is advice to those hungry in the U.S. and over 21.
Definitely not recommended:
Any shoplifiting or other pilfering of food. It’s just a good way to find yourself in jail (or worse) … and keep reading; it’s not necessary!
Possible in certain circumstances but not recommended in favor of the other options below:
Dumpster Diving
This could be possible in certain circumstances, probably with inside information (see below) … but if you don’t have inside information, you have to make double sure the food you’re getting out of the dumpster isn’t being contaminated by the raft of other pathogens from dog poo, motor oil, and God only knows what could be in a particular dumpster.
Expect regular bouts of intestinal issues as varying amounts of this stuff gets into your system. Some people are OK with this; some are Navy Seals! But not me, and probably not you … I just wanted to warn you what you would probably be getting into doing this.
The recommended options:
(1) Food Banks … every city in the US of any size has one or more of these … grocery stores put their carefully selected just-past-the-expiration-date food in the stream to be picked up by some other charitable organization, or in some cases by government (I guess; I haven’t looked into this in detail.)
The best option:
(2) (Liberal) Churches. Try any church … if they slam the door in your face and say “get a job” try the next one. It probably won’t be long; most Christian churches have psychological pressure going among the members to be Christ-like, which means charity toward wayward travelers (among many other attributes …)
Also, be at least reasonably clean and as well-dressed as you can manage. Volunteer to do anything needed around the church. You may wind up with a job there or with a church member … there is still a labor shortage in many areas, and this gets you into a ready-made helpful community … you don’t have to be a Christian to be welcomed into a Christian Church. I have been going with my lovely wife to her Lutheran Churches for a couple of years now, and my life is 100% better than when I started.
Try it! Best of luck …
