Free social services menu: supermarket surplus and queues
A social services beneficiary shows his free food handout: nearly expired Mercadona potatoes, cherries and expired rice. Surplus, queues and dignity in Spain.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Free social services menu: supermarket surplus and queues
A plate of pasta, Mercadona potatoes, cherries and expired seafood rice. That is what a social services beneficiary in Spain received on a typical day, according to the photo that has been circulating. The image shows a menu made up mostly of donated food, including a tub of potatoes that, according to the recipient, expired that very day and came from supermarket surplus. The cherries, probably the most expensive item in the batch, are the only fresh product that does not appear to come from the aid.
Supermarket surplus as the basis of food aid
Donations from large chains are common, but the recipient points to a questionable practice: handing out unsold surplus, sometimes close to its expiry date, and using it as image washing. Social services users collect these products in queues where elderly people and the unemployed mix, and, according to the testimony, conversations about pharmaceutical conspiracies even break out.
The quality of the social services menu
Not everything is edible. The seafood rice was thrown away out of suspicion, and the rest is eaten with reservations. The debate that arises is whether this surplus-recovery system is enough or whether dignified food should be guaranteed instead of simply leftovers. Meanwhile, the initial bureaucracy to access the service is another obstacle.
The question nobody answers is why, in a country with food surpluses, those who need it most have to settle for a meal they hesitate to eat.
Related discussions in the forum
A plate of pasta, Mercadona potatoes, cherries and expired seafood rice. That is what a social services beneficiary in Spain received on a typical day, according to the photo that has been circulating. The image shows a menu made up mostly of donated food, including a tub of potatoes that, according to the recipient, expired that very day and came from supermarket surplus. The cherries, probably the most expensive item in the batch, are the only fresh product that does not appear to come from the aid.
Supermarket surplus as the basis of food aid
Donations from large chains are common, but the recipient points to a questionable practice: handing out unsold surplus, sometimes close to its expiry date, and using it as image washing. Social services users collect these products in queues where elderly people and the unemployed mix, and, according to the testimony, conversations about pharmaceutical conspiracies even break out.
The quality of the social services menu
Not everything is edible. The seafood rice was thrown away out of suspicion, and the rest is eaten with reservations. The debate that arises is whether this surplus-recovery system is enough or whether dignified food should be guaranteed instead of simply leftovers. Meanwhile, the initial bureaucracy to access the service is another obstacle.
The question nobody answers is why, in a country with food surpluses, those who need it most have to settle for a meal they hesitate to eat.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (11 replies).
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