1y ago

What foods would be best to give to someone living on the streets in a very hot/humid country?

I often go to some cities in Asia and sometimes will see someone who lives on the street. Many times they are sleeping during the day since it's so hot and sometimes they look malnourished too. What would be the best foods I could provide them (assuming some restaurants or convenience stores are nearby) which would not spoil?

23 comments

Don't, find local homeless charities and give them food or money. This way the food is keep safe so it doesn't make the person sick.
- i do this too but at the moment when i encounter this person i can't just leave them without anything
  
  Dry goods that don't need to be prepared. Things like crackers and beef jerky are reliable choices.
- I give money to local charities too but i'm talking about when i'm walking on the street and and it's an ad-hoc thing
  this is the organization i give to: http://sunshine-action.org/

Why not just leave a small amount of money so they can buy it themselves? It would solve all issues. From allergies, spoiling, and attracting insects or stray dogs.
Because you run into the issue that most healthy things that don't spoil are rather hard. And many homeless people have issues with their teeth and can't eat that. So you either leave something less healthy, like sealed soft bread or you ignore food safety rules.
Which isn't as big of a deal in Asia. Even affluent people ignore it. Foods to look out for would be anything with a lot of soy sauce or vinegar. They tend to last a bit longer. And while it sounds stereotypical, anything with rice will be appreciated.
Leaving fruits could also work.
- Cash has the problem of incentivizing performance poverty. I'm not saying that's the case for everybody. But in larger metropolitan areas where there are people known to donate cash, you can get the professional begger showing up. And then you run into this weird cycle where the professionals chase out the amateurs, the real people in need, because it's distracting from their revenue generation.
  Again I'm not saying that's all people. But it creates the incentive. Which is why donating to local charities, temples, is more effective they know the local landscape better, they know the people in need, they can make your money work a lot harder than you can make it work, and they're going to stick around long-term to make sure good things happen.
- drug addicts

Not sure if this is possible or practical for that situation but peanut butter is a good source of protein and calories. It also does not need refrigerated. There is the issue of allergies though.
- Peanut allergies are much more rare in Asian populations than European or North America.
- this is a good idea! i will keep this in mind. generally in asia peanuts are not an issue, it's more often that lactose is an issue.

Donate to the local temple. Don't give out handouts directly. It will just draw attention to yourself.
Find a local street vendor, and pay them money to feed that person multiple times.
If you must hand out food directly, hard boiled eggs last a while, Mama is popular, jerky last awhile.

"Trail Mix" if they have that in your area. Usually a mix of dried foods (fruit, nuts, seeds). Some are healthier than others with the less healthy ones adding candy.
Canned/jarred foods that do not require a tool to open.

I carry gift cards to Subway for the homeless. Subway restaurants are almost everywhere, don't cost a lot, can be reasonably healthy, and most people like the food well enough.

Canned fish. Nutritious (protein). Lots of energy (fat).
Bread. Don't need to cook. Probably kept until it's all eaten.
7-11 sells ready-to-eat food packs. They maybe willing to heat it for the persons if it's a 7-11 rebranded packet.
Ramen noodle types. Assuming that they can get boiled water.

I’ve always been a fan of protein/granola bars.

Water bottles
- water is easy and i can already cover that, i am looking for food suggestions though

Easy. Buy uncut fruit from a local market - bananas, oranges, mangoes, local fruit.

Ask them what they need. You don't need to guess.
- I think the idea is to have it on hand already

23 comments