Hundreds of Georgia residents watched in disbelief as thousands of perfectly good grocery items were hauled away to the local landfill. The Laney Supermarket in Augusta was foreclosed upon by SunTrust Bank last week. Since the financial institution was not able to find a “suitable” collector for the unopened non-perishable grocery items, they were relocated onto the sidewalk.
Food security and the rising cost of groceries is a problem for between 30 to 50 percent of citizens around the world. Grocery prices rose by 217 percent in 2008. A large crowd of low-income residents heard about the free food on the sidewalk in front of the Laney Supermarket and quickly grabbed some bags and went down to the store.
Unfortunately for the needy Augusta residents, local law enforcement officers were ordered to collect all of the food and take it to the trash dump. A barricade was placed around the still-usable groceries, angering those who had gathered around the items.
Augusta resident Robertstine Lambert had this to say when those assembled were told that the free food rumors were not going to materialize:
“People have children here that are hungry, thirsty, could be anything. Why throw it away when you could be issuing it out?”
Richmond County Marshal Steve Smith stated that the Laney Supermarket food was not theirs to give away and it had to be disposed of as dictated by law. Marshal Smith also said that his department did not have authority to take possession of the supermarket property.
Sheriff Richard Roundtree also reportedly stated that the grocery items were brand new and the possibility for a riot was extremely high.
What do you think about Augusta law enforcement officers being forced to throw away unopened groceries from the Laney Supermarket?
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