Food rescue isn't a solution for poverty and making people undergo a demeaning and humiliating process of needs assessment for waste food that nobody else wants is inhumane.

Literally just read a paragraph in a document telling me that the Free Store model is not "best practice" for redistributing rescued food bc ppl need to be "moved to independence" and I am

Now idk about others, but I'm pretty dependent on food. I seem to need to eat it multiple times a day, everyday day of the week. Funny how Certain People aren't telling me I need to be moved to independence *rolls eyes*

Also. Why TF do ppl think folk access a Free Store or a Pātaka Kai?! Literally BECAUSE you can do so independently of state controlled humiliation processes, do so with dignity, and take what you need and know will use, and what is helpful for your household right now.

Food insecurity in NZ is deeply intertwined with poverty, and simply throwing food waste at hungry families won't address the underlying drivers: wages are too low, rents are too high, welfare is inadequate, cost of living is $$$.

Food waste occurs bc of overproduction. Even during COVID and all the flour and bread shortages, food rescue places were STILL collecting piles of cheap white bread!! Shoving buns at ppl in need doesn't address either food insecurity or overproduction.

To be clear, food insecurity means having insufficent nutritionally adequate, safe food to eat and difficulty in acquiring acceptable foods in culturally and socially appropriate ways. It's not just about micronutrients but also about supporting a person's autonomy & dignity.

I REALLY loathe this idea that because you're skint, you don't "deserve" to have dignity or autonomy or control over what you eat. I loathe the framing of ppl as "ungrateful" if they do exert choice, as though they can't possibly have food preferences and needs of their own.

In sum, making food freely accessible in dignifying ways, such as in a Free Store or Pātaka Kai, helps. Forcing ppl to undertake a needs assessment to access waste food is demeaning, makes food inaccessible, and does sweet FA to address anything in any sensible way. /end rant