RE: Operation Sack Lunch, part one
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Something I notice about the homeless I encounter here is that they generally aren't under-nourished. I guess there must be plenty of access to places who'll provide food in the city centre. I came across one more locally near a shopping centre and it looked like he was getting food from the supermarket bins and there are some clothing collection bins there too, so I occasionally see them being raided and this guy had himself a collection of shoes. I thought it pretty resourceful! 😆 It was just his socks that had huge holes in, so I got an extra pack while I was in the supermarket and he accepted them, but I think he'd have preferred I hadn't woken him. He did, however, hide them under his coat with a cake he was protecting, so I'm guessing socks are one of the less easy things to come by.
Socks are always in high demand here too, which is why I did a sock op once. Groups that work with homeless folx a lot are always requesting them!
Here it's very hit or miss if you're talking about "size" regarding "under-nourished," but do remember that that isn't really an indicator of nourishment, especially in the US, anyway. The most calorie-dense foods are often the least nutritious. Most of the obesity epidemic is a case of overfed and undernourished ...and those are generally the cheapest foods. Especially when you can't cook because you're homeless!
Thankfully food here hasn't quite reached the point of no nourishment on the whole. That's why I think he was being so protective of his cake! 🤣 His junk food treat! While cheap food may not be the healthiest of diets here, it's usually still got some nourishment. In fact some of our junk food is more highly taxed (candy and chocolate for example), making it more of a treat if you're on a low budget.
That's good. Here it's mostly junk food you can get at many food banks as well - the last time I went to one I couldn't take a lot of stuff due to my allergies since it was all super processed crap with 20 ingredients, I was allergic to SOMETHING in there most of the time. So the only things I had in my bag were the scratch ingredients I wasn't allergic to, and one of the volunteers said to another, "Hey! This one can cook!" because I didn't need instructions of what to do with an item. LOL