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There is the people trying to poison the homeless argument as well, which I can believe might possibly be true (more so in LA than Seattle).

My experience interacting with homeless people agrees with DoreenMichelle. "They" are not all the same, many of "them" would tell you some food they'd be grateful for if you'd only ask what they like. I would imagine, even if you're hungry or just feeling horrible, that it's too humiliating to simply accept whatever random food a passing stranger offers you.

They may also want cash to go spend on "other crap."

But I'm kind of a subject matter expert here. This is not an excuse. This is reality.

I spent nearly six years homeless. I have very serious health problems. When people gave me food instead of cash, a lot of it went directly into a trash can because I am literally better off going hungry than eating certain things and my dietary restrictions are quite numerous.

FYI: Nutrition and prison.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16140867