Three free meals available daily for any New Yorker • Hacker News Board

Re: Three free meals available daily for any New Yorker

#271

Post by thepete2 » Fri, Apr 03, 2020, 4:49 PM UTC

throaway1990 wrote: post #254

blunte wrote: post #252

I find it fascinating that it seems so many people are against (sometimes vehemently) against others getting free food and shelter. There is no excuse for a modern civilization to not ensure that everyone has basic human needs met. Sure, we can argue some details like, "Is Netflix really a basic human need?"... joking aside, we as humans should endeavor to ensure that all people have their Maslow pyramid filled in.

that's impossible, all 5 levels? Forget it

I recall that level 5 (self actualization) is something only 2% of people achieve currently.

Re: Three free meals available daily for any New Yorker

#272

Post by dmoy » Fri, Apr 03, 2020, 4:50 PM UTC

ikeboy wrote: post #172

cs702 wrote: post #9

This is wonderful to see and badly necessary, particularly in a country like the US, where most people do not have ability to cover a $500 surprise bill in normal times: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-americans-cant-handle-a-50... -- and we are definitely not in normal times. Kudos to the NYC administration for putting this together so quickly.

The data shows the median net worth is around 100k. I'm very suspicious of claims about what the average American can afford based on surveys. Often they ask people how they would pay for something, and if the answer is "credit cards" they interpret it as that they can't afford it, which is plainly nonsense. Edit: took a look at your source. >“The survey shows that a very significant minority of American households a…

What data shows median net worth around $100k? Does that include a house?

Median household savings discluding a house, at retirement age, is just barely $100k (that is, enough to support retirement income above social security of a wopping ~$5k/year).

Re: Three free meals available daily for any New Yorker

#273

Post by NovemberWhiskey » Fri, Apr 03, 2020, 4:52 PM UTC

mehrdadn wrote: post #260

rsynnott wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They won't use utensils that have touched meat _since last being washed_. For kosher, you have to have permanent segregation of utensils etc.

This is fascinating. I have a hard time wrapping my head around how this is supposed to work though. Does this assumption never break down at any point? From the moment the iron is extracted and melted to the moment the knife comes into your hand... is there some kind of chain of custody certificate that says it's never touched anything impermissible? Are there entire kosher industries and factories I'm not aware of…

The point is being simplified. Simply washing a knife will not make it suitable for preparation of kosher food; but there are methods that will.

Searching for "libun gamur" and "hagalah" will provide a starting point for the genuinely interested.

Re: Three free meals available daily for any New Yorker

#274

Post by ikeboy » Fri, Apr 03, 2020, 4:53 PM UTC

dmoy wrote: post #272

ikeboy wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The data shows the median net worth is around 100k. I'm very suspicious of claims about what the average American can afford based on surveys. Often they ask people how they would pay for something, and if the answer is "credit cards" they interpret it as that they can't afford it, which is plainly nonsense. Edit: took a look at your source. >“The survey shows that a very significant minority of American households a…

What data shows median net worth around $100k? Does that include a house? Median household savings discluding a house, at retirement age, is just barely $100k (that is, enough to support retirement income above social security of a wopping ~$5k/year).

Federal reserve including all assets and subtracting all debts.

If you owe 300k on your house that's worth 400k, you might have a liquidity problem but you aren't poor.

Re: Three free meals available daily for any New Yorker

#275

Post by dmoy » Fri, Apr 03, 2020, 4:55 PM UTC

ikeboy wrote: post #274

dmoy wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What data shows median net worth around $100k? Does that include a house? Median household savings discluding a house, at retirement age, is just barely $100k (that is, enough to support retirement income above social security of a wopping ~$5k/year).

Federal reserve including all assets and subtracting all debts. If you owe 300k on your house that's worth 400k, you might have a liquidity problem but you aren't poor.

True but you might have a hard time covering an emergency $1k expense.

There's also a colloquial phrase for it - house poor.

Re: Three free meals available daily for any New Yorker

#276

Post by econcon » Fri, Apr 03, 2020, 4:55 PM UTC

munk-a wrote: post #246

impostergc wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Feeding people was solved in the 20th century, perhaps almost too easily. See correlation between poverty and obesity in the 21st century, vs the 19th century.

Obesity is strongly tied in with the fact that the food we're consuming is unhealthy - rather than the fact that it's purely excessive. One of those unhealthy factors is an overabundance of sugar and salt both of which fight satiation fueling the brain to overeat. We have plenty of food, but we've turned a large portion of it into unhealthy crap.

I think everyone can benefit from eating less irrespective of if they are consuming fast food or very clean diet.

A lot of people use food for emotional pain management. Consuming food releases dopamine which is same as taking a drug hit.

My girlfriend used to be obese and I learned she felt very lonely and when we got into relationship - she got lot better and now she's very fit.

Re: Three free meals available daily for any New Yorker

#277

Post by koheripbal » Fri, Apr 03, 2020, 4:59 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #139

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #27

The logistics behind this must be formidable. They would need hundreds of food preparers, all of them tested daily for COVID-19 and of course practicing strict hygiene in prep and packaging. Still it's probably easier to control than thousands of separate restaurants and food markets, which is undoubtedly their thinking: centralize food distribution to minimize risky contact. This is a sobering reminder of how depend…

It's literally just all (or close to all?) existing public school cafeterias staying open. Same cafeteria workers as always, same types of menus. The biggest change in logistics seems to be that all the meals are now to-go, so goodbye trays, hello bags.

... and hello infection increases as people line up for them.

Re: Three free meals available daily for any New Yorker

#278

Post by mehrdadn » Fri, Apr 03, 2020, 4:59 PM UTC

NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #273

mehrdadn wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is fascinating. I have a hard time wrapping my head around how this is supposed to work though. Does this assumption never break down at any point? From the moment the iron is extracted and melted to the moment the knife comes into your hand... is there some kind of chain of custody certificate that says it's never touched anything impermissible? Are there entire kosher industries and factories I'm not aware of…

The point is being simplified. Simply washing a knife will not make it suitable for preparation of kosher food; but there are methods that will. Searching for "libun gamur" and "hagalah" will provide a starting point for the genuinely interested.

Oh wow I see, thanks, just Googled. For anyone else wondering, it depends, but you need to e.g. heat the utensil to get it red hot!

Re: Three free meals available daily for any New Yorker

#279

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Apr 03, 2020, 5:02 PM UTC

asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #253

bobwaycott wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ... $500/mo in benefits for a family of three. This is definitely sufficient to provide three nutritious meals per day for three people anywhere in the country. This is an unbelievable assertion. That’s $5.48 per meal for 3 people. Have you tried to feed 3 people a consistently nutritious meal on $5.48 per meal everywhere in the country ? What is your nutritious meal plan for 3 meals each day, 365 days per year, th…

I mean, I cook for my family so I have some idea what goes into each meal. Typical dinner will be rice, some protein, and some vegetables. By far the most expensive bit is the protein. Our staple is chicken thighs which can be had for $2-3/lb. We use maybe half a pound per person (generous estimate), so the protein cost is on the order $6/meal. The rice costs next to nothing, maybe 20c. And the vegetables might be a…

[deleted]

Re: Three free meals available daily for any New Yorker

#280

Post by kyuudou » Fri, Apr 03, 2020, 5:02 PM UTC

Justsignedup wrote: post #218

asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think SNAP is supposed to always cover 100% of food expenses. If you're near the cutoff point for benefits, you get some allowance, but you're expected to cover some of the food cost from your income. You would of course use your SNAP benefits first, since they are not fungible, so it is not surprising that you would run out before the end of the month. This does not mean that such households are unable to af…

That's the point. It should. If we remove the fear of starvation (we can afford to feed everyone twice and barely put a dent in our military budget) a lot of people will have a HUGE improvement in their day-to-day happiness. This is one of those obvious huge moral positives we can do. The only "down side" is there will never be fear of starvation. Edit: The one progress I can see in a society is when we can basically…

It's hard to be like "omg everyone should have food, shelter and sanitation" and "omg climate change from overpopulation"... There's even a national security memorandum from back in the 1960s discussing various population restriction methods.

Just throwing that out there.