The mayor’s office says it would be the first major U.S. city to enact such a plan.

    • rastilin@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Excellent point. If stealing is what keeps people fed, then the taxes that keep that store open are worth it. But also I think the reported rates of theft are wildly overstated, here in Australia we had our two largest stores basically admit they made up the whole “epidemic” so they’d have an excuse to raise prices.

      • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        Do you believe every USPS office is profitable? No, many are not, but people need access to mail. Roads don’t generate a profit either. Government services shouldn’t need to be profitable.

      • SeducingCamel@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Sorry guys, this grocery store isn’t profitable, guess you don’t really need access to food

        It’s almost like we should care more about people instead of profits

    • Uncle_Iroh@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Stop it! There’s no more straws left!

      No, it means they’ll have to get in a car and drive to the next location, hopefully without stealing from there too.

        • Uncle_Iroh@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Bus, walk, bike, if you cannot affort a car you’re likely not working enough so you have the time to use alternative modes of transport.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Where are you supposed to bike to when the nearest supermarket is 20 miles away?

            And poor people often work 2 or 3 jobs. Again, you know nothing about being poor.

            • Uncle_Iroh@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Unless you live in bumfuck arkanses the next supermarket is not 20 miles away, and even then it likely isn’t.

              Poor people work so many jobs that I see them sitting on their porch at 1pm on a fucking Tuesday.

                • Uncle_Iroh@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Ah, yes. Me working hard to be where I am and seeing others do nothing and complain about being poor is classism. I’m not rich, I’m just not a fucking bum.

        • JasSmith@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          Or, like, get on a bus. Or walk. Or cycle. Or get food delivered from any one of many cheap delivery options. Or even a food bank or church. Or neighbour. Or family. Or friends. You think people without a car who don’t have a supermarket next door just die? I can’t even imagine the level of learned helplessness you seem to possess.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Buses take money. And walk where? Bicycle where? You think they could just walk to the nearest supermarket? Do you not understand that there isn’t food available for miles? Do you really not understand what the term ‘food desert’ means?

            And delivered? Do you really not understand what being poor means?

            • JasSmith@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              Buses take money.

              So does food from the supermarket. That’s why we give poor people money. We should, IMHO, give them even more. Either way, with that money, they get on the bus.

              Half of the world’s population walk miles for food and water. That’s certainly not a big ask on a bicycle. I commute six miles each way to work on a bike, every day. For millennia, humans roamed hundreds of miles on foot hunting for game. Yet you’re arguing someone today can’t cycle a few miles?? Lordy.

              Delivery is often cheaper than the time and commute, so I’m not sure what you’re arguing there. Amazon offers free delivery, and you can buy every staple you need.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Half of the world’s population walk miles for food and water. That’s certainly not a big ask on a bicycle.

                Wow. You’re actually asking poor Americans to live like they’re in third-world countries? I thought America was the richest nation?

                And food delivery is not cheap. That’s just a lie.

                • JasSmith@kbin.social
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                  1 year ago

                  Wow. You’re actually asking poor Americans to live like they’re in third-world countries? I thought America was the richest nation?

                  That’s some spicy classism. Walking and cycling isn’t the domain of the unwashed masses. It’s a clean, healthy source of transport which more cities should encourage. Furthermore, should one choose to use the less healthy and polluting forms of transport, they can: the bus. Using the money they are given for not working at all. They don’t get that in developing nations.

                  And food delivery is not cheap. That’s just a lie.

                  Amazon.com. Free delivery. Try it out.

                  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    Expecting people to walk for miles to get water is expecting them to live like a third-world country. And yes, you did say water.

                    And you have to pay for Prime for “free” delivery. Which poor people can’t afford.

              • Enigma@sh.itjust.works
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                1 year ago

                Here was you response to me prior to you deleteing it:

                You cannot use SNAP for bus fare. You also cannot get delivery using SNAP

                This is a good argument for giving people money, not food stamps.

                You’re asking people, in America a supposedly developed nation, to do the same things people in developing nations have to do to get food.

                I don’t get this revulsion to walking. Most people walk every day for commutes, food, and errands. Walking does not mean your life is irredeemably terrible. In fact, data shows you will live longer and be happier. Ditto for cycling.

                You live in a little town far away from civilisation. I think it’s unreasonable to expect city amenities in such places. There’s no logistical way to get supermarkets close to every home. Not when people have built homes so far away from everyone else.

                And my response: No one is asking for supermarkets near their home. But a grocery store that’s reasonably priced is well within the realm of possible. You’re literally blaming people for where they live, even though they can’t afford to move. These aren’t new builds. These are generational homes. The people who built them are long dead and their grandkids or great grandkids now live in the same house because they are too poor to live elsewhere. My town has a pop of over 10k. It’s reasonable to expect a grocery store or 3, or even a supermarket, to be there. And I’ve explained in another comment why there isn’t. No one is against walking, but as I said in my other comment to you, I’d have to bike over 2hrs to the nearest grocery store, walking? It’d take me 8hrs. It is not reasonable to expect anyone to walk 8hrs to the nearest grocery store. (And yes, I Google mapped it so I’m not just talking out my ass.) I’m honestly just so flabbergasted that people blame others for where they live like they have a choice when they can’t even afford a car.

                • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.net
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                  The part about not being able to use SNAP for delivery isn’t even true. I’m on food stamps; I can get delivery from Walmart, Instacart, most local grocers and more. As long as I’m only getting food stamp eligible items, I don’t have to use any real cash.

                  • Enigma@sh.itjust.works
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                    1 year ago

                    Has to depend on state then, even though I know it’s a federal subsidy, because I’m also on food stamps and cannot order delivery. Not when I lived in the city, and not now in the town I live in.

              • Enigma@sh.itjust.works
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                You cannot use SNAP for bus fare. You also cannot get delivery using SNAP, besides Amazon, and you have to have a Whole Foods near you. The closest one for me, as an example, is in another state 3hrs away. So Amazon won’t deliver to me. There’s actually no bud where I live, so that’s out. And I just looked it up, it’d take me over 2hrs to bike to the nearest grocery store, and I’d have to do it on a highway. Oh and on top of that, I’d have to bring my toddlers.

                Your points are great, if you live in a city. But most food deserts are in smaller rural towns. You’re asking people, in America a supposedly developed nation, to do the same things people in developing nations have to do to get food. It’s kinda ass backwards don’t ya think? That the “richest” nation is telling their population to live like some of the poorest nations.

                • JasSmith@kbin.social
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                  1 year ago

                  You cannot use SNAP for bus fare. You also cannot get delivery using SNAP

                  This is a good argument for giving people money, not food stamps.

                  You’re asking people, in America a supposedly developed nation, to do the same things people in developing nations have to do to get food.

                  I don’t get this revulsion to walking. Most people walk every day for commutes, food, and errands. Walking does not mean your life is irredeemably terrible. In fact, data shows you will live longer and be happier. Ditto for cycling.

                  You live in a little town far away from civilisation. I think it’s unreasonable to expect city amenities in such places. There’s no logistical way to get supermarkets close to every home. Not when people have built homes so far away from everyone else.

              • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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                1 year ago

                If you’re in favor of programs like helping people pay for food why are you so opposed to the city opening a grocery store?

            • Uncle_Iroh@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Bused are cheap, walk to a store, bicycle to a store, I bike 12km to and from every day. But you’re conveniently ignoring every other argument the lad above made, so that shows your victim mentality.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                You think poor people can afford get food delivered. You think a supermarket is within walking distance. You have no idea what being poor means or what a food desert is. People can be 20 miles from the nearest place to buy food in rural small towns. All they can do is buy junk food at the Dollar General and survive on that.

                Poor doesn’t mean you can afford luxuries. Food desert doesn’t mean you can walk to a supermarket.

                • Uncle_Iroh@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  I didn’t say poor people can afford to have food delivered, you can’t even read who you’re talking to lmfao. Btw, eating just junk food is expensive…

                  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                    Sorry, that was another person I was talking to. And yes, junk food is expensive. Too bad it can be literally the only option sometimes. But I guess those people are too poor to matter.