This photo was sent my way by someone who knows I work in #food security. I don’t know where it was taken or who deserves credit. (The tickets appear to name a pub).
But I’d sure love to see this kindness replicated. Widely. It’s critically needed & warms my heart. ❤️
@Sheril I don’t get it.
I’m thinking all those would have had way more effect going to a food bank. Or taxes, in the case of a sane gov.
Here we see a restaurant profiting off the charity of people, on top of some of those meals likely never getting used up at all.
@alec @Sheril What do you mean food banks are not providing hot food, the kitchens they supply absolutely do. And each one of those bills would feed 10 times the people.
I definitely did not mean food stamps, or even anything related in the US, hence the “sane gov” qualification of the taxes. US is like the worst in that in my mind.
@alec Who said it’s radical? It just isn’t a very good way to give food to the hungry.
It might be good for other reasons - which comes down to being able to sit in a pub basically.
@matrix9180 @alec @Sheril I am not “shitting” on anyone. Asking questions should never be shamed.
Blocked
Some things are just what they are. This is a gift to people who are without food, are, right now, not ever eating with dignity. It isnt a way to solve billionaires stealing wages, it doesnt solve bribed politicians giving away tax gifts to rich corporations, it doesnt end poverty.
Its just a bit of dignity for a dinner or lunch.
People deserving dignity, afforded dignity, is a powerful society-changing understanding.
Also you are not wrong. Rights shouldnt be gifts.
World Bank data suggests a higher rate of severe food insecurity in Norway than in the US (but that’s deeply suspicious…)
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SN.ITK.SVFI.ZS?locations=NO-US
Also, “paying taxes” implies some pretty huge assumptions about the existence (and necessity) of a bureaucratic state.
@scottmatter @notthatkaren @Sheril No, it does not imply increased bureaucracy.
We all already pay taxes, as everybody should.
Personally I'm a firm believer in #UBI, which shows in all studies time and time again it results in people getting lifted out of poverty.
It is an example of taxes being distributed in the most simple way possible - *everybody gets it, period*. It quite literally would require significantly less bureaucracy, compared to dealing with food stamps for example.
If you re-read my post, you’ll see I did not mention “increased” bureaucracy.
The claim that taxes are the best way, or that everyone should pay taxes, is fine if the only world we can imagine is one of bureaucratic states.
What if we dare to imagine beyond that narrow paradigm?
@kfet
Though this particular establishment is said to have been dodgy AF, the concept of pay it forward in food places is generally good. Food banks can be pretty rubbish, and humiliating and otherwise difficult to access. Not all people in food poverty have the facilities, time and energy to cook. An affordable or free healthy cooked meal can be so so welcome. Especially if given discretely and without judgement.
One of our local eating establishments does this really well.
@RedRobyn @Sheril I think I found a more detailed report on the place where the pic is from:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/restaurants-meal-donations-ottawa-valley-1.7031660
Interesting point being that the owner used to foot the pay-it-forward bill, at least in the beginning.
They seem to have emphasized the aspect of socializing at the pub, not just feeding the hungry (unlike a food bank).
Looks like it’s permanently closed now.
@kfet @Sheril are you for real?
Yes, something could ALWAYS be done better. You could have, for example, done literally anything except write that post and it would have been an improvement. (The same is true for me, of course.)
But to look at an act of kindness and humanity and harrumph it? That's special.
@Sheril Context matters, and this seems to have been just a way for the pub owner to show some kindness.
@[email protected] @[email protected] I think I found a more detailed report on the place where the pic is from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/restaurants-meal-donations-ottawa-valley-1.7031660 Interesting point being that the owner used to foot the pay-it-forward bill, at least in the beginning. They seem to have emphasized the aspect of socializing at the pub, not just feeding the hungry (unlike a food bank). Looks like it’s permanently closed now.
@Sheril Comments are not encouraging at all, suggesting this was a cheap publicity stunt. https://www.reddit.com/r/ontario/comments/1b9wckj/nelson_street_pub_in_pembroke/
The place appears to be closed down now.
@Sheril maybe at the Nelson Street Pub in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada. 29 November 2023. By then the idea was catching on elsewhere, BUT the pub owner is quoted saying "he came up with the idea after he saw an American restaurant post about a similar initiative on social media."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/restaurants-meal-donations-ottawa-valley-1.7031660
Check out Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen. (Yes, that Bon Jovi.) It's a casual sit-down restaurant. Anyone can come, be seated at a table, order whatever they want off the menu, and be treated like any other customer. If you can pay for the meal, great. If you can't, you can pay for it by helping out in the kitchen or waiting tables for a while. It's a non-profit. Four locations and growing.
@Sheril On the off-chance that anyone nearby sees this post, the cafe at the Inspire Centre in Levenshulme in Manchester runs a scheme just like this.
@Sheril Shout out to Humble House in Golden, CO that does the same thing. If you browse the slips there you'll see people "paying it forward" for a wide variety of reasons: people who are hungry, people who are struggling with cancer, runaways who are alone, people who are lonely.
A small gesture of kindness from a stranger can have a profound effect on a person. I hope everyone is lucky enough to experience that.
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