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5 feet from a sandwich...Let's Chat About Homelessness, day -1

Starting tomorrow, I will be living on the streets of Decatur, homeless for the next 30 days, taking an in-depth look at homelessness in this area, and revisiting places nearly a decade after having done this before.

I will not mention any names, though I should mention names.  It's not that their business would be hurt or that even a basic understanding of the world would allow you to figure out who and what I am talking about, but I will not mention any names.

Suffice it to say that there is a coffee shop chain that throws out three or five sandwiches every other night or so.  Outside this particular coffee shop are people who have not eaten all day. Those sandwiches have to go in the trash.

These are the things that I will never understand.  The people who work at this particular coffee shop are good people and they would love to, at the end of the day, hand those sandwiches out to people who are right outside of the door who have not eaten all day.  Those sandwiches have to go in the trash.

They are good sandwiches.  They are in good shape and they are wrapped in plastic. Best when heated but also good cold. The people who are right outside of the door who would love to have those sandwiches could, theoretically, go out to the trash cans at the end of the night and get those sandwiches out of the trash and eat them because they have not eaten all day.

The police may stop them, but likely not.

There has to be another organizations involved.  Another organization has to train someone in food handling.  Then they have to have that person ready to go at the end of the night to go and get in a van and get those sandwiches at the end of the night. This person has to go out and drive around and see if this particular coffee shop has extra at the end of the night THEN bring those sandwiches back to a central "commissary" ostensibly walking by people who have not eaten all day.

Those sandwiches have to be kept cold according to law and heated according to law.

So those sandwiches go in the trash and people five feet from a sandwich have to go sacrifice their dignity and dive for it, or find someplace else to find food.

All around this city sandwiches and other food are going into the trash.  Sandwiches, pizzas, chicken, and more are going into dumpsters.

How do we solve these problems?  These are the problems that we need to take a look at and see if we can solve.  These are the last mile problems...or in this case the last five feet.  How can we do something as simple as getting a sandwich that last five feet into the hands of a hungry person?

We could use your help.  If you would like to get involved or make a donation to this and other projects, please contact us at thelifecooperative@gmail.com




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  1. DashaFebruary 17, 2019 at 7:30 PM

    Second Helpings Atlanta exists for this exact reason - food rescue. They connect volunteer drivers with shelters, pantries, and many other organizations. The donations come from events, restaurants, supermarkets, and even corporate cafeterias. More can be done, as always but I think you'd better serve the cause by raising awareness about groups like SHA so more volunteer drivers sign up and more areas get coverage.

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