Should stealing food be a crime when you are hungry?

Theft is the unauthorized taking of property of another with the intent to deprive them of it permanently. It is universally regarded as a crime. To many people, there is never a good reason to steal. However, is stealing the barest minimum just to get by still a crime? Maybe not. Italy’s highest court of appeal has ruled that stealing food is not a crime if you are poor and hungry. A homeless man in Genoa, Roman Ostriakov, attempted to steal two pieces of cheese and a packet of sausage from a supermarket. This moment of desperation led to him being convicted of theft and sentenced to six months in jail, along with a $100 fine. A five-year legal battle was fought with a three-part trial and his case was finally brought to the Supreme Court of Cassation. The court ruled that he had not committed a crime as he had taken the food “in the face of the immediate and essential need for nourishment”, the Court of Cassation said. Especially considering the economic crisis which had led to more people on the streets hungry, I feel that this decision was a good one. Now, stealing small amounts of food is not a criminal act in Italy. I think that it is humane of the authorities to consider people who are in urgent need of food. These people are not stealing with ill intent, but just to fill their stomachs for survival. Even the worst person does not deserve to be deprived of basic needs such as food and water, so why should the poor? If theft is really the only way that some people can get food for survival, then we should not condemn them for doing so. Stealing a bit of food causes relatively little harm and does more good. Anyone else would have done the same thing in that moment of hunger. I highly doubt that moral values will hold a person back from stealing a bit of food when emptiness is gnawing at their stomach. It should not be a crime and I think that their actions are justified. However, some people do not agree with this decision, out of fear that people might abuse this and start stealing food. In the case of people stealing for financial gain or bad intentions and taking advantage of the law, I do not think they should be pardoned. When they steal large amounts of goods without justification, a lot of damage could be caused. Others also believe that this violates the authority that people have over what they own.“For the supreme judges, the right to survival has prevailed over the right to property,” Massimo Gramellini, wrote in an opinion column. The thought that anyone could just come in and take food without their permission scares and outrages many. In this moral dilemma, I feel that shop owners are also being neglected. Many people would just tell them to show a bit of compassion to those poor homeless in need. But what happens when they suffer losses from this too? These property owners also have a business to run and a family to support, they cannot afford to lose profits if people start robbing them of their goods unlawfully. This perpetuates a circle of injustice which needs to be stopped. Thus, I feel that the government should step in and attempt to take care of the problem. Offering financial aid to those on the streets could help reduce the population of homeless people. Even just small operations like a homeless soup kitchen or food banks could help those in desperate need for nutrition. This can help them from even resorting to stealing, which although justified, may hurt the livelihoods of shop owners. In conclusion, I do not think theft is a crime when someone has no other means of getting food to survive. However, stealing food might cause losses to the owners when the law is abused. Hence, the government should intervene and help the needy so they do not even have to turn to stealing just for nourishment. references: https://writingwithsharonwatson.com/5-prompts-on-current-events/ https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/04/world/europe/food-theft-in-italy-may-not-be-a-crime-court-rules.html?_r=2 Talia Ann Chung 2 Diligence