Guedes Claims that The Middle Class Eats Too Much and that Their Leftovers Could Feed The Poor

Nodding to supermarkets, the government is considering making food shelf life more flexible

Brasília

​Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) defended this Thursday (17) that leftovers from restaurants should be destined for beggars and vulnerable people in order to make up for what he called "excesses" committed by the middle class.

“The plate of a [member] of the European middle class, who has already faced two world wars, is a relatively small plate. And here, we make lunches where sometimes there are huge leftovers. This goes until the end, which is the meal of the upper middle class, until then there are excesses,” he said.

BRASILIA, DF, BRASIL, 20-05-2021, 12h00: Minister Paulo Guedes. (Foto: Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress, MERCADO) - Folhapress

“How to use these excesses that are in restaurants and link this with social policies, this has to be done. All that food that is not used during that day in the restaurant, that is enough to feed vulnerable people, beggars, the destitute. It's much better than letting all that food spoil,” he said.

Fenafisco (National Federation of State and District Tax Authorities) released a statement criticizing Guedes, saying that the minister demonstrates "lack of knowledge of how his own country functions" and demanding serious and effective policies to combat inequality.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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