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Comment by akaru | Hacker News Reader

I've been homeless.

No one in SF is hungry. In a span of a few blocks a person could eat for free 5 or 6 times a day. Money is used for drugs or McDonald's.

My advice: don't give anyone money or food. If you want to help, give your time.

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In a span of a few blocks a person could eat for free 5 or 6 times a day.

Care to expand?

He's probably referring to the preponderance of foodbanks.

Sure. I'm talking about "soup kitchens". They really are plentiful. I even know of one that only served vegetarian food, and always had a full loaf of bread you could take with you after your meal. There are four or five just in the TL. I found during my stint I would just walk from one to the other and sit for coffee and snack.

As someone who hasn't spent much time in SF but plans to move there very soon and doesn't want to live off of ramen, I genuinely want to know: where does one get those free meals?

Edit: namank and iamwill beat me to it.

Most dumpsters/trash cans in big cities have tons of free food, you just have to keep your eyes open.

A couple of years ago, a couple getting their food from trashcans around here got poisoned by the cooling agent you put in cars. They were found in their apt. a couple of weeks later. The hypothesis was that someone was tired of having them going through their trash.

They were not homeless. A criminal investigation was made. It is used as a scenario in school, and that's how I know about it. The pictures were... "interesting".

Not saying it's common, but if I ever have to get my food from trash cans I will make damned sure that it's at least properly sealed.

I've had the thought a few times while going for broke on my startup. The food was totally fine, and the shelters generally safe, but, well, the clientele was not generally people you'd wish to associate with.

Food, even healthy food, can be cheap if you're willing to spend a bit of time preparing. I'd cook a pot of beans before hitting up soup kitchens.

http://www.freeprintshop.org/download/eats_english.pdf

Honestly your going to have to wait in long lines with some of the worst smells you can possibly imagine.

Is it because the homeless shelters provide food? Where do you get food from?

Some shelters are associated with a parent (church etc.) that also provides food, but they're typically separate. Seriously, the only people who could possibly be hungry are invalids or children that can't get to the food banks. Any person that can walk around begging for change could easily walk a few blocks for a healthy hot meal. "Help, I'm hungry" is an outright lie---every time--plain and simple.

I make a point of carrying a few Cliff Bars in my backpack, to offer to people who ask for money. Some people turn them down, but a number also happily accept them.

There are no good solutions, but this is the best compromise I've come up with so far.

Just curious but by free are you referring to food shelters?

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