It has been a while since I have done and there have been some changes, but there are still certain truths and inevitable realities to this world. The thing you need is somewhere it just depends on what you are willing to do to get it. Tonight I am going dumpster diving.
I remember a decade ago when I did this the first time. There was a young man who was trying to give me advice because it was obvious I was new. He was a wealth of information and told me lots of things I will never forget and that I wish I had never heard. Food is the key for many and he was telling me where I could get it. He was telling me about local shelters and when they "feed". I tend to lock on to certain words and the way they are said. The way he said "feed" was so animal-like.
"This place feeds at 5 p.m."
"You get good feed at such and such a place"
He even told me about a local pastor who would trade oral sex for a place to sleep and some food.
In any event, he and his partner; a young lady who had her head shaved and walked around in circles talking to herself while we spoke, said they opted to avoid the shelters, except for the worst nights when it was too cold. When it came to food, they often chose to dumpster dive.
If you know what you are doing and when, it is not too bad he said. In fact, having been in the shelter, it was often better quality and, by his logic, safer.
To back up a bit, back then this whole thing started with an argument on Facebook. A friend of mine from high school in SC had come to Atlanta with her husband for a night out. The night out included a dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. They ended up leaving with leftovers and before getting on MARTA they offered their leftovers to a man sitting on the corner. He declined. My friend, thinking that she had been snubbed went on a tirade on Facebook (Facebook tirades were newer back then) and started a thread that would go for days. The gist of the thread was that "these people" just want money for drugs and booze. It was then that I committed to spend 30 days out there to understand what was going on and why.
I asked the young man why, if he were in the same situation, wouldn't he take the food. He told me he never took leftovers because he was afraid of getting sick. A cold when you are homeless could be deadly or at least miserable for a few days. There is no "netflix and chill" under the covers while spooning chicken soup in bed. He told me the last time he had been really sick he had to curl up under a bush in Memorial Park and shiver for days with a fever.
Dumpster diving, while it seems unseemly is sometimes the best option. The trick is to wait for the particular restaurant to close of course. Fast food places are notorious for making up a few burgers, sandwiches, whatever, to get ahead of the curve for the rest of the night while they clean and get ready to close. Once they lock the doors, those things go out with the garbage, if crew members don't eat them or take them home. If you know the right places, it is pretty easy to get a fresh Whopper or chicken sandwich, still hot.
Pizza on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night...again, after closing is abundant. Pizza is always available just after a pizza place closes. Donuts, and other bakery items are also plentiful. They are wrapped, prepared in accordance with health department guidelines and plentiful.
All that any of this requires is a willingness to reach into a dumpster, to go past that threshold of saying that something that was inside a warming oven five minutes ago is still good not that it is no longer perfect.
Let's not forget also that it is not good for the human body to inhale fast food, night after night, but it satisfies a hunger and shelter food is not much better healthwise. Six of one...?
We have to have a real talk about poverty, homelessness and food security among everyone.
This is part one of this discussion. There is so much more to come.
If you would like to know more about what we are doing or contribute in some way contact us at thelifecooperative@gmail.com or make a donation, buy a cup of coffee, whatever
here:
I remember a decade ago when I did this the first time. There was a young man who was trying to give me advice because it was obvious I was new. He was a wealth of information and told me lots of things I will never forget and that I wish I had never heard. Food is the key for many and he was telling me where I could get it. He was telling me about local shelters and when they "feed". I tend to lock on to certain words and the way they are said. The way he said "feed" was so animal-like."This place feeds at 5 p.m."
"You get good feed at such and such a place"
He even told me about a local pastor who would trade oral sex for a place to sleep and some food.
In any event, he and his partner; a young lady who had her head shaved and walked around in circles talking to herself while we spoke, said they opted to avoid the shelters, except for the worst nights when it was too cold. When it came to food, they often chose to dumpster dive.
If you know what you are doing and when, it is not too bad he said. In fact, having been in the shelter, it was often better quality and, by his logic, safer.
To back up a bit, back then this whole thing started with an argument on Facebook. A friend of mine from high school in SC had come to Atlanta with her husband for a night out. The night out included a dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. They ended up leaving with leftovers and before getting on MARTA they offered their leftovers to a man sitting on the corner. He declined. My friend, thinking that she had been snubbed went on a tirade on Facebook (Facebook tirades were newer back then) and started a thread that would go for days. The gist of the thread was that "these people" just want money for drugs and booze. It was then that I committed to spend 30 days out there to understand what was going on and why.
I asked the young man why, if he were in the same situation, wouldn't he take the food. He told me he never took leftovers because he was afraid of getting sick. A cold when you are homeless could be deadly or at least miserable for a few days. There is no "netflix and chill" under the covers while spooning chicken soup in bed. He told me the last time he had been really sick he had to curl up under a bush in Memorial Park and shiver for days with a fever.
Dumpster diving, while it seems unseemly is sometimes the best option. The trick is to wait for the particular restaurant to close of course. Fast food places are notorious for making up a few burgers, sandwiches, whatever, to get ahead of the curve for the rest of the night while they clean and get ready to close. Once they lock the doors, those things go out with the garbage, if crew members don't eat them or take them home. If you know the right places, it is pretty easy to get a fresh Whopper or chicken sandwich, still hot.
Pizza on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night...again, after closing is abundant. Pizza is always available just after a pizza place closes. Donuts, and other bakery items are also plentiful. They are wrapped, prepared in accordance with health department guidelines and plentiful.
All that any of this requires is a willingness to reach into a dumpster, to go past that threshold of saying that something that was inside a warming oven five minutes ago is still good not that it is no longer perfect.
Let's not forget also that it is not good for the human body to inhale fast food, night after night, but it satisfies a hunger and shelter food is not much better healthwise. Six of one...?
We have to have a real talk about poverty, homelessness and food security among everyone.
This is part one of this discussion. There is so much more to come.
If you would like to know more about what we are doing or contribute in some way contact us at thelifecooperative@gmail.com or make a donation, buy a cup of coffee, whatever
here:
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