Sarah Carlson: Food Loaded into Dumpsters while Hundreds of Hungry

Americans are Restrained by the Police? Hundreds of poor people waiting outside of a closed grocery store, for the possibility of getting the remaining food, is not the picture of the American Dream. Yet on March 23, outside the Laney Walker Supermarket in Augusta, Ga, that is exactly what happened. Residents filled the parking lot with bags and baskets, hoping to get some of the baby food, canned goods, noodles and other non perishables. But a local church never came to pick up the food, as the store-owner prior to the eviction said they had arranged. By the time the people showed up for the food, as the store owner prior to the eviction said they arranged. By the time the people showed up for the food, what was left inside the premises, as with any eviction, came into the ownership of the property holder, Sun Trust Bank. The bank ordered the food to be loaded into dumpsters, and hauled to a landfill, instead of being distributed. The people that gathered, had to be restrained by police, as they saw perfectly good food destroyed. Local Sheriff Richard Round-tree told the news a potential for a riot was extremely high. People got children out here that are hungry, thirsty, local resident Robert-stine Lambert told Fox 54 in Augusta. Why throw it away, when you could be issuing it out? Sun Trust bank is trying to confuse the issue, and not take direct responsibility for their actions. Their media relations officer Mike McCoy stated, "We are working with store suppliers, as well as law enforcement, to dispose of the remaining contents of the store and secure the building. Yet he also said, that the food never belonged to Sun Trust Bank. There is no need to sugar coat what happened. Teresa Russell, chief deputy of the Marshall's Office in Richmond County, said the owner of the building ordered that the food be taken to the landfill. Some people even followed the truck to the landfill, and were still turned away. In Richmond County, there are about 20 evictions per day, and the area surrounding the supermarket is one of the poorest in the state. According to the last available data, the poverty rate is 41 percent. Many people in that parking lot probably knew all too well how evictions work, and were in desperate need of food assistance. This story is not some bizarre exception. It reeks of the truth of capitalism, and is strikingly similar to the H&M scandal, that broke in 2010, when clothes were being shredded before being thrown away, so as to make sure the value of the merchandise was unaffected!