... on a Situation Common for Homeless (quora)

Q

Why do some homeless people prefer cash over food when offered?
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-some-homeless-people-prefer-cash-over-food-when-offered/answer/Emily-L%C3%BCtringer

Emily Lütringer

Written Mar 7, 2016

Upvoted by Tilman Ahr, trained chef with a borderline obsessive interest in food history and science,

Elizabeth Penrose, and 4 others you follow

When I was homeless, free food was easy to find. Dumpster diving for overcooked pizza (but otherwise perfect and untouched) and 2-day past expiration date from the grocery store, asking for the stale donuts at the end of the night, walking up to drive throughs at 3am, or just before they are closing and asking politely, soup kitchens, food banks, wild foraging (apple trees were the best), etc.

Money is so much more valuable for everything else - a bit of gas money to give a friend to get you to a doctor appointment, medical supplies and medicines, hygiene items, clothing/blankets/stuff to keep you warm at night, etc etc.

Hans-Georg Lundahl

1m ago

For my own part, if I ask for sth in or outside a library, I ask for food, so as not to have to go away and buy it, but when I beg, I agree with you, for a reason you did not mention : what if you already have eaten food (bought, offered, asked for at library before getting there), are moderately full, and the even more food you are getting is threatening to:

• make even drinking a beer with the meal impossible, due to your already having too much sugar;
• make you feel overfilled and drowsy;
• make you get acid reflux;
• make it likely for you to wake up before a full night’s sleep and hard to get back to sleep;
• give you an arousal when you have no sexual partner (and when the food you already ate was chosen with a moderation specifically on this purpose;
• make you more prone to get the pants dirty from next time you have to shit or pee, due to stronger pressure and less ability to keep tight up to toilet, fully;
• AND not pay the washing machine for restoring your clothing after such a story.

Mary McEvoy

Jan 7

What a really good perspective and makes such sense. It is hard to know the best approach to help. I would often buy a sandwich and a coffee but it is mostly met with a disappointed but thankful nod and usually not touched, and you know they would much prefer money.

Hans-Georg Lundahl

Just now

For my part I always take that - nearly.

When not, I usually grin politely about already being full. Which is usually true.

Other comment on the affair

For some reason, I looked up her profile, she had written nothing more recent than this answer on March 7th 2016, the link to her FB page was a broken link, her profile is no longer there.

I get the impression someone may have put pressure on her to keep away from social media. I wonder if she is alive and in freedom.