(This is a non-copyrighted press release from the NDP candidate in Lasalle-Emard.)
…I’m so happy.
Matt, I read this earlier at work but I can’t post from there. I figured this thread would be flooded by the time I got home.
This type of thing is truly disgusting, especially when multiplied by the thousands of times it occurs each day.
Another example: My ex has been manager of a pizza shop for nearly 15 years. I won’t mention the name but if you think of big red letters thats not my fault. When she first started there we were appalled by the number of pizzas thrown away every day (mistakes, no-shows…etc), she was allowed to take home one per day for personal consumption. She ask about giving the others (average 10/15 per day) to her sister who was into the Salvation Army thing back then and the owner said “no way”. Needless to say, after she had been there a few years and built up some clout, the throw-aways started finding their way into hungry stomachs instead of the dumpster. I don’t understand the logic, surely the poor, hungry few that benefit from recieving your “garbage” don’t constitute a large enough portion of your customer base to significantly erode your profit margin…but I could be wrong, the ways of big business sometime elude me.
Anyway, there outta be a law…
Well, VaHermit, the initial problem with giving away non-picked-up pizza would be that, as soon as people start catching on, there’d be a small number (like over-zealous charity workers or something) who’d order pizza and then not pick it up, knowing that it’d simply be given away to the local homeless shelter or something.
Matt… when they say “306 dinners” in the above article, are they referring to 306 plates of already-prepared food that didn’t have much eaten off of them (or something like that), or leftovers that equaled 306 dinners total, or the “raw materials” that one would cook to prepare 306 dinners? If either of the former, I think the whole article is much ado about nothing, but if the latter… well, that’d just be stupid (“Hey, Bernie, I’ve got a loaf of bread that someone didn’t eat… what should I do with it?” “Throw it out!”).
And as I press the reply button, I reflect on how goofy it sounds to say “306 dinners”… 
Hey Spoof, nice to meet ya’, just call me Hermit.
Yeah, I guess that was the owners reasoning too, but I’m not talking about advertising or handing them out at the back door. In the eight years or so that they’ve been donating to the local soup kitchen, the numbers have remained pretty consistant, and you can bet your ass that the owner is keeping track and claiming them as a charitable donation, which beats the hell out of tossing them, a win-win situation as far as I can see.
I was wondering about the 306 dinners myself, how much was actually prepared and how much was just on hand in the fridge?
Damn me, I say “hi” and then screw up your name. I meant SPOOF…capital “S”, capital “P”, capital “O”, capital “O”, capital “F”, …sorry.
You forgot the capial “E”, too…
I’d prefer it all in lower-case rather than without the E (it’s an acronym), but I’m hardly as anal about my name as… oh… Slythe (did that just to piss 'im off). As long as I know you’re talking to me, you can write “Zingy-Zongy Man” if you really want to.
capital “E”, long night, I’m going to bed now.
Simul-post, I almost managed to save face, but as usual I’m a day late and a dollar short. (smacks self on head …“SPOOFE,SPOOFE,SPOOFE”),
Hermit, Hermit, Hermit… bed beckons me, as well.
I’m unclear on this, but I’ll contact the guy who released this press and I’ll get back to you.
306 dinners wasted = Globalization is bad?
It is a disgusting waste of food that could have gone with hungry people - the Hotel should have some kind of relationship with local shelters and anti-hunger groups for when this happens - I’m sure it’s not the first time a large event has been cancelled at the last minute.
So I’d say that the fault lies with a) the Hotel b) the people in charge of planning the events for the delegates. I’m sure the delegates didn’t spend the evening rolling around in giant vats of champagne and caviar and shouting “let them eat cake.”
But if you want me to draw some kind of conclusion that “wasted food = Globalization is EVIL,” you’ll have to do better than this press release.
First you’d have to tell me what you mean by “Globalization.”
Then you’d have to tell me what about it that you think is evil.
This is the Pit, not GD, so I respect your rant about wasted food, but I don’t think you are making a bigger point.
Magdalene, I think the idea is that people who are willing to throw away 306 perfectly good dinners are without a great deal of moral authority when it comes to discussing the problems of the world’s poor.
Over the summer, I worked for a catering company, and from waht I can tell, every catered event wastes a lot of food. At least in Massachusetts, it’s illegal to this out to food shelters, most likely due to liability issues. These globalization people don’t sound any worse than any of the people that put on any of the events I saw. And it’s going to be hard to claim that an appreciation dinner for major contributors to children’s hospitals is a group that lacks any moral authority.
Since hotel banquet procedure is one of the things I’ve studied in culinary school, let me at least put in a perspective from the hotel’s point of view.
First of all, the people in charge of putting this meeting together are at fault for scheduling two dinners at the same time, and then cancelling the Sheraton dinner at the last minute.
Often, large hotels do not send their leftovers to shelters or missions due to problems with liability. Once food leaves the hotel, there is no way for them to control how it is stored, handled and served, yet can be liable for any possible food poisoning. So, let’s say for example: hotel gives the local shelter the 300 dinners. That is quite a bit of food. People running the shelter notice that there is not enough room in their refrigerators for everything, and they decide to leave the mashed potatoes out on the counter, thinking that heating them up at lunch the next day will be enough to kill any possible bacteria buildup in the food. Next day, they heat the potatoes for lunch service, but do not heat them up properly to kill off the salmonella that has built up overnight. Potatoes are served; within hours several hundered are sick. The shelter will turn around and blame the hotel for providing tainted food, even though the food was not properly held and reheated by the shelter. This is what the hotel is avoiding by not donating the food.
I know it’s horrible; I’d rather see the food donated than thrown away. One of the reasons I went to the culinary school I’m going to is that they donate food to the local mission, instead of throwing it away. Yet, in this day and age, everyone ends up having to cover their asses to keep them from getting sued off–even if it’s to the disadvantage of others.
Thanks for your informed insight, Java. I’d read snippets about the liability problems even with donated food but didn’t know enough to express an opinion.
It truly does suck, and I don’t have any good answers. Food is needed so badly by shelters, etc. that the waste seems monstrous. But castoff food donated to the poor can cause illness.
Unfortunately I can readily imagine perishable foods being donated to charity–for tax write-offs, PR, etc.–that aren’t fit for human consumption. It’s like people who donate worn-out, ripped clothing: throw it away and donate something useful instead of recycling trash in the name of charity.
But bad food can cause awful illness (anyone had food poisoning?) and most shelters are far too understaffed and overwhelmed to undertake screening food.
This is an apt symbol, though, and not necessarily just for the issues of globalization.
Veb