I don’t have a penny, the next food bank appointment is 30th Sept. I don’t know how I’ll last that long. Any faster ways?

  • snipvoid@lemmygrad.ml
    1·
    3 days ago

    I hope this gets to you. I don’t know if you’re claiming any benefits right now but if you are you might be able to get a crisis loan when you have no cash for food. If you’ve already claimed one from the DWP, sometimes the councils will have a separate fund (sometimes called hardship but they change names sometimes) where they can release smaller amounts to help you make it thru. I asked a friend (not on the grad) who previously lived near Devon what they’d recommend and they mentioned a place called Provide Devon but warned that it was ‘faith based’.

    I know it can feel soul destroying, but I’ve had luck asking evening/nighttime supermarket staff if there was anything that they had to throw out that day (like before it hits the dumpster) that they could let me have. This was much further north so ymmv, but it worked when I’ve been in a few pinches. I explained my situation and they would sometimes meet me with humanity. It helped that they also weren’t getting paid enough to care. (I had best luck at Tesco’s btw, and by approaching someone who was just moving shelf items.)

    I know you mentioned there weren’t any sihk temples near you however I did find something called the ‘plymouth sikh community’ (add dot com for their website). If nothing else, langar/feeding the hungry is up there on the list of things you can expect from a sihk identifying community. The website for the Plymouth group I mentioned above has a link to a Facebook page and a gmail address on their ‘members’ tab from their homepage. They might jump at the chance to express their faith and feed someone in need.

    The other thing I’d suggest is to look at any and all local housing associations. Call or (even better, only if you’re able) go In and speak to someone at the desk. Housing associations usually have the ability to refer individuals to some of the private ‘refer only’ food banks, and often times they’ll at least have some kind of hookup on other community resources to point you to in the area.

    That’s all I got for now. I hope it gets to you and I hope you get fed. I wish you love and abundance in your future. If you were further north and across the border I’d have more ability to help. I hope this works in lieu.

  • ghost_of_faso2@lemmygrad.ml
    17·
    6 days ago

    download free food apps like good to go, often times shops in the UK during closing time will punt all the stuff that they normally throw out at the end of the shift on here.

    If you live in London you can live off of this stuff, I was eating free sushi and bakery goods a lot when I was skint.

    edit:

    also look up local churches, sikh ones will feed anyone who walks thru the door.

    • vovchik_ilich [he/him]@hexbear.net
      31·
      5 days ago

      Dude, wtf, show some respect for the people struggling

      Edit: sorry, wasn’t aware of the situation with food waste in other countries

          • -6-6-6-@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
            13·
            5 days ago

            If you live in the United States, yes. We waste so, so much food. Like seriously. You could go into a dump at “garbage time” (easy to figure out by just watching store employees) and grab an entire fridge-worth of food for multiple people. A lot of food banks or churches can do exactly what OP described as above; deem you for whatever reason not able to grab shit from their expired food section. Often than not, the food bank near me gives you a variety of cans that are more “baking goods” than actual food you can eat out of the can. 8 cans of applesauce is great for keeping full but not exactly nutritious and makes you feel like Steve Jobs on a fruitarian diet.

            Dumpster-diving wasn’t meant to be “insulting”. It’s seen as that because we look down at scavengers in America for whatever reason. When I was scraping by and jumping from place to place; dumpsters were literally the best place to get free food, free drinks and free beer.

            Sadly, they lock them up, put security cams or dogs around the cans to prevent people from rummaging. Just gotta be smart.

      • DigitalNirvana@lemm.ee
        6·
        5 days ago

        Back when I was in school, course load such that I had little time to work, I learned that dumpsters were a viable source for free food. Jamba is the diety of the dumpster, and we would praise the abundance. As an example, I had a friend who had visitors from Russia. I decided to swing by the grocer’s dumpsters, and ‘lo found all sorts of ripe fresh fruit. I took some, and left some for others to find. The Russians were amazed and delighted that there was anything free to be had in the US. Of course we are taught to look down on scavenging, foraging, gleaning. But who teaches that lesson? The owners.
        I also learned the saying, “Not everything in the dumpster is for you.” Which teaches the importance of appreciation, sharing, and discernment.

        • -6-6-6-@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
          3·
          5 days ago

          In the area I was in, I was pretty much the only dumpster-diver. Was nice to not have to shop for groceries all the time.

  • vovchik_ilich [he/him]@hexbear.net
    5·
    6 days ago

    Also, furthering on the “local” aspect of it, finding a food bank or a community canteen (probably not the right name, sorry, I’m not native English speaker), you can probably ask there and they’ll likely be able to give you a better answer than post people here

  • ℝ𝔼𝔻 ℂ𝕆𝕃𝕆𝕊𝕊𝕌𝕊@lemmygrad.ml
    3·
    5 days ago

    I live in NYC, I have never personally done this but I know people who have struggled, and the best thing is to maybe not dress in a suit but your nicest clothes, showered, and groomed enough so people think you’re middle class plus going through one unique moment of poverty and not someone chronically poor… and just go to a food place (not a restaurant, somewhere that sells food… deli, grocery store, maybe even a food cart) ideally in a nice neighborhood. Ask to see the manager or ideally the owner (since they have way more leeway than employees) and without giving this huge sob story, politely ask for food.

    They will almost never say no, and in fact you might get lucky and be given a month’s worth of food. It sucks that we have more sympathy for a moment of difficulty for the better off than a lifetime of suffering for the poor but here we are. It reminds me of the state Senator in Wisconsin or Michigan or wherever arguing against free food in schools because kids that don’t get enough sustenance in their youth have a lifetime of reduced intelligence and even charisma and if they gave every kid food, “we’d have no mechanics or bricklayers!”.

  • vovchik_ilich [he/him]@hexbear.net
    2·
    6 days ago

    Maybe not what most people would suggest, but for an occasional day, don’t you have any friends who you remember need a small favour (say installing some software on a computer, or painting a wall), and tell them that you’ll come over and help if they invite you over for dinner?

    Also, maybe if you’re country-specific, it will be easier to give suggestions

    • -6-6-6-@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
      4·
      5 days ago

      Sadly, a lot of people lost a good chunk of their friend groups during COVID. I consider myself a super social person but I have only a handful of people I could really ask for a favor. Someone who’s more anti-social would seriously struggle. A lot of the connections and social interactions we had on the periphery of our lives were severed entirely; never returning.