Outrage over bins overflowing with discarded groceries
People have expressed their outrage after images surfaced of overflowing bins filled with out-of-date food amid the coronavirus pandemic, and subsequent panic buying.
The photos were shared to a Facebook group, according to UK publication Coventry Live, and they were taken on a street in England.
“This is what panic buying really looks like, waste, waste and more waste,” the Facebook post reportedly said.
The photos were then shared to Twitter by councillor Ajit Singh Atwal, who slammed the photos of unnecessary waste.
The pictures show the bin was full of uneaten goods and items which could not fit in the bin were placed next to it on the ground.
“To all the people in this great city of ours in Derby,” the councillor tweeted.
“If you have gone out & panic bought like a lot of you have & stacked up your houses with unnecessary items you don’t normally buy or you have bought in more food than you need, then you need to take a good look @ yourself.”
The photos were quickly slammed by people on social media.
“What a waste of food, it's amazing me how many ignorant people we have in this country,” one person said.
“Disgraceful. I hope these people look back and realise they have let themselves and their communities down,” another person said.
One Twitter user questioned why this person did not just add items to their freezer, speculating perhaps their freezer was also stocked.
However, some people speculated the photos were staged.
One user pointed out the bananas seen in the photo were not even ripe and another said a used by date on one of the items says March 1, which was before panic buying became the norm.
to all the people in this great city of ours in Derby, if you have gone out & panic bought like a lot of you have & stacked up your houses with unnecessary items you don’t normally buy or you have bought in more food than you need, then you need to take a good look @ yourself pic.twitter.com/fpYdGBu6M4
— Ajit Singh Atwal (@AtwalAjit) March 27, 2020
Panic buying seems to a widespread problem in places like the UK, USA and Australia.
Aussie supermarkets were forced to place limits on toilet paper and other foods people were hoarding in preparation for potential isolation.
Meanwhile in the United States, not only are people stocking up on food to sustain themselves, there were also long lines outside gun shops.
Some areas with high populations of Asian-Americans saw guns sales “skyrocketing”, amid fears they would be racially targeted.
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