An early morning observation
So get this...I'm up early, racing out on a date with the homeless here in Shibuya. We have a bunch of people, who distribute rice cakes made by a different bunch of people, to a third bunch of people who are a tiny fraction of the homeless community in Tokyo. I guess we feed about 200 people, 365 days a year. Adds up to enough rice cakes to stretch from the Diet building in Tokyo all the way to Hiroshima. And then I see a 24/7 McDonalds! Time for a rant:
How come people go hungry?
What's the story? Why couldn't an organization like McDonalds help out with an issue like this? I don't mean giving away burgers - but even if they gave away a cent per burger (add in all the other stuff like fries, soda, fish, salads etc), you'd end up with a whole lot of money.
Instead of me rattling a tin can at church once a month (I'm serious) and relying on donations from excellent supporters such as the American Chamber of Commerce Japan, picture us getting a check once a year from Maccie D. Let's do the math - say there are 100 million items sold at McDonalds stores in Tokyo every year. Nobody would miss (or likely begrudge) one yen in the price. Nobody would probably even know.
That's like a million dollars (in Japan 1 oku yen) - pretty powerful number when compared to the Y300,000 a month or so it costs to feed 200 people! I bet that's a small proportion of the food they throw away. At a guess, figure a wastage rate of 2.5% on an average sale of Y400 and we're talking about maybe a tenth of their wastage. Shoot, add in the other fast food-ers and you're talking a truckload!
What a powerful way to make a really positive gesture...and if it embarrasses them to feed homeless people, all the better. Make the donation very quietly, in secret even (how biblical!). I don't get why you would want to make extravagant gestures with plastic Ronalds (don't get me wrong, I think Ronald McDonald Houses are a wonderful thing to support) when there are much more practical ways of helping the people who are probably out there right now scrounging through your trash cans.
I don't get it. It makes me angry to think that they're using cheap labor to feed people what at best could be described as not-good-for-you food, and there are people right in their face who may not get a meal today. Go figure.
But maybe I'm an idiot...
How come people go hungry?
What's the story? Why couldn't an organization like McDonalds help out with an issue like this? I don't mean giving away burgers - but even if they gave away a cent per burger (add in all the other stuff like fries, soda, fish, salads etc), you'd end up with a whole lot of money.
Instead of me rattling a tin can at church once a month (I'm serious) and relying on donations from excellent supporters such as the American Chamber of Commerce Japan, picture us getting a check once a year from Maccie D. Let's do the math - say there are 100 million items sold at McDonalds stores in Tokyo every year. Nobody would miss (or likely begrudge) one yen in the price. Nobody would probably even know.
That's like a million dollars (in Japan 1 oku yen) - pretty powerful number when compared to the Y300,000 a month or so it costs to feed 200 people! I bet that's a small proportion of the food they throw away. At a guess, figure a wastage rate of 2.5% on an average sale of Y400 and we're talking about maybe a tenth of their wastage. Shoot, add in the other fast food-ers and you're talking a truckload!
What a powerful way to make a really positive gesture...and if it embarrasses them to feed homeless people, all the better. Make the donation very quietly, in secret even (how biblical!). I don't get why you would want to make extravagant gestures with plastic Ronalds (don't get me wrong, I think Ronald McDonald Houses are a wonderful thing to support) when there are much more practical ways of helping the people who are probably out there right now scrounging through your trash cans.
I don't get it. It makes me angry to think that they're using cheap labor to feed people what at best could be described as not-good-for-you food, and there are people right in their face who may not get a meal today. Go figure.
But maybe I'm an idiot...
posted by Terry at
6:09 am
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