Shoplifting food

[Bananavape]

What's your opinion on someone shoplifting food, sometimes the more expensive items within their weekly shopping (cheese, sauces etc), or sometimes when they're out and starving but no money to actually buy anything to eat (a sandwich or wrap etc), if they genuinely can't afford to feed themselves?

In a country where our disgraced former PM is trying to make his father, accused of various wrongs, a knight and people who donate to the Tories get multimillion contracts, it is hard to get aerated about someone nicking some cheese because they can't afford to buy it.

If I were a magistrate, I would listen very carefully to mitigation and consider leniency as far as allowed under law.

Every day I count my blessings I don't have to choose between the two shit choices of going without or stealing it.

I've actually just seen an elderly lady put cans of dog food in a bag and walk out( I went to self scan)
I turned a blind eye and thought of her dog I'd do the same for anyone I saw tbh

Honestly when I was doing it I didn’t have a car, was exhausted, middle of exam year, so just went to the closest one (which happened to be a big chain).

Thieving from a shop isn’t going to solve the issue. Shops already pass the cost of theft onto the consumer. I’d rather they just went without a meal so the price can be cheaper for us all.

I love the world you live in.

Are you aware that most food banks and charities now limit the amount of items and number of times that you can get help due to the fact that they are inundated by demand that they cannot meet?

Stealing shouldn't be necessary, no. And it's impossible to condone theft. But it is easy to understand it. Because nobody should be without food, heating, water and other basics of life because they cannot afford them in a developed country.

Honestly, I would look the other way. I have no idea whether they are up shit creek or if they are doing it to sell on.

Hasn't it been debunked numerous times that it pushes the price up?

I feel nothing but pity for someone who is stealing to feed themselves or kids. I don't feel sorry for someone who is stealing fillet steak or something high end stolen to order or to sell on. Years ago I worked at a solicitors and one of our clients was being prosecuted by a well known supermarket for stealing a pack of 4 pork chops. She had no previous form for it and her tears as she explained it was to feed her kids seemed genuine to me. Why couldn't they have just banned her from the shop?

You’d rather I tell a 7yo, sorry we won’t be eating until mum comes back, which will be god know when ?

Boris and the tories are bad people, so it is ok for people to shoplift. What else can we do based on this reasoning?

I don’t want to use Boris as a kind of moral compass.

What if they've already gone without one meal?

The one that's in my nearest town doesn't open until 6pm, if I needed to use it I couldn't because of buses. Most I think you have to be referred and many have limits on use.

Sorry, there's been a misunderstanding there. I was quoting someone else.

I don’t think it’s ever ok to shoplift how ever skint you are. I understand how hard it must be to ask for help but there are loads of ways to get food these days using places/apps like Olio and too good to go. I’m sure if you asked at your local supermarket near the end of the day they would give you things they were going to throw away? I have known people take from skips outside supermarkets.

It’s easy to say “well these shops make millions so what does it mater?” But it’s steeling and I wouldn’t be able to too, I would rather ask.

Exactly....I run a toddler group based in a church people often come in asking for help our nearest is referral only and 2 buses away....no good if you don't have the fare or the wrong day.

Although I’m blessed it only lasted a year.
But I highly doubt the worth of my food shop changed a thing (I hadn’t been raised like this, until arriving in this situation I was in family care with my grandparents , and raised with principles). So no, I have no regrets, I did what I could

I have never shoplifted. I just miss a meal here and there when the money run out. But I don't have children to feed. I don't know what I would do if circumstances were different. Therefore, I'm looking the other way.

I was thinking about this the other day. I saw a young mother in our local supermarket. She was taking a long time at checkout and kept calling her son who was a few metres away in one of the aisles. As I was looked back I saw that he had shoplifted something and then left the store. She then left and came back but picked up two more items oil and something else at the entrance and walked back out. This was in view of the security screen recording everything.

It's a small shop often with security at the door and lots of staff, my thoughts were that security know it's happening and who they are as they often watching from another room, but they are turning a blind eye more than they would have previously.

I would 100%turm a blind eye . I could never see someone go without food .

Although food banks can be helpful, they are not as easy to access as people think its often hard to actually make a meal from some of the stuff given.

Also I think its extremely sad that food banks have been normalised. I think its actually used by the government. Give people peanuts to live on its fine they can go to the food bank.

Are you asking for permission?

We were very poor growing up, but never stole food. We just skipped meals. It didn't make much sense to break the law for very little benefit. We'd still be in need the next week.

I didn't see anything. Tesco don't pay me to work security.

I would 100% look away.
And if I saw them doing it every week, I'd look away every week.

Where is the mum? When did I mention a 7 year old?

None of my business. I had that POV when I worked at a supermarket too. Not paid enough to care.

What is they haven't? What should they do then?

What a horrible situation for a child to be on, I certainly wouldn't judge anyone in that situation. I hope your adult life has worked out OK x