Cities that prohibit the sharing of food with the homeless
When an action lacks fairness, it is to be unjust. One would expect that years after the demise of Dr. King, the society would try and create equal and just situations for every person. However, this is not the case; injustices are all around us and seem to be increasingly common. Homelessness is a condition that has been increasingly rampant in society today, whereby many Americans lose their homes and end up sleeping in the streets. The community often tries to come together and help the homeless through the sharing of food. Today, some laws prohibit such actions making it difficult for people to lend a helping. Great injustice is found in these laws as they make it difficult for people to show kindness to other people who are struggling.
Cities that prohibit the sharing of food with the homeless use various ordinances and policies as tactics to discourage groups and individuals from sharing food with the homeless. For instance, Las Vegas passed an ordinance banning the provision of food to the indigent for free or for a minimal fee at the parks in the city. While the towns passed these laws prohibiting the sharing of food, they lack adequate shelters and food resources that would be sufficient to meet the needs of the homeless. Groups and people that violate the food sharing restrictions are at risk of facing extreme punishment for violations. For instance, in Orlando, people are known to face penalties of up to five hundred dollars or sixty days in jail for violating this law.
For groups who would like to follow the law and continue in the food sharing, they are to follow procedures that require them to spend high amounts of money getting certifications and permits. These requirements also take a long time and discourage people from food sharing. Hunger is a severe issue, especially for the homeless, and denying them access to food from the community is a great injustice.
Instead of penalizing people who try to help, the cities should collaborate with the food-sharing groups to address the issue of hunger and homelessness. The groups can enter homeless people into programs that the food-sharing groups already have in place, allowing the groups to help the homeless get their lives on track. Additionally, there should be more proactive opportunities such as increased access to food stamps and food resources as well as increased food stamp benefits, which provide more homeless people with access to food. Working together with the society to solve the issue of hunger and homelessness would be better suited for the city than prohibiting these groups from food sharing.
Failure to such, the city may find that more people are being fined or thrown in jail for trying to feed the homeless. These actions would affect society negatively, creating a rift between the government and the people as the government prohibits them from practicing kindness. People who are unable to afford the five hundred dollar fine in cities like Orlando face jail time, which may be the fate that numerous people face.
There are people in the society who also believe that food sharing laws are unjust but do nothing. This failure to take action would delay the possibility of eliminating this injustice. When people see injustice but do nothing, they are just as guilty as the people committing the injustice. Someone has to take a stand for the homeless people and protect them. When people come together in numbers and speak against such injustices, their voice is heard changes implemented.