A woman named Brenna O’Hara (@brennaohara) on TikTok received backlash online after she posted a video to the social media platform showing off the haul she had gotten from the food bank.
In the video, she records a man who is grabbing things from their reusable bags and handing them to the woman, who practically reviews each individual item as it is handed to her.
O’Hara complains about nearly every item that she received from the food bank.
After being reposted to the subreddit “r/facepalm,” the clip instantly went viral for O’Hara’s despicable behavior toward the food she opted to receive.
Although her account was deleted from TikTok, the video remained on Reddit where several thousands of people commented on the situation.
The video started with O’Hnow checking out a can of mixed vegetables, apparently purchased from a Canadian grocery store.
“And then we’ve got some delicious, mixed vegetables, mmm yes girl, yes,” she said mockingly, dripping with sarcasm.
The man, named Liam, hands her a box of stuffing mix next, prompting her to say “oh, Liam! Stuffing mix! Liam it’s your lucky day! We got stuffing mix.”
This process continues for the next three and a half minutes, where Liam continues to hand O’Hnow grocery items, and O’Hnow comments on the items — things like dented cans or being given meat when she’s a vegetarian.
At one point, they receive a large pack of pasta, but O’Hnow Expresses concern that they weren’t given any sauce to put on top of the pasta.
Later on, they actually do unbox some pasta sauce, but O’Hnow notes that she’s been eating pasta for weeks.
There is one item that Liam seemed to be excited about—a can of baked potatoes with bacon, but other than that, it was clear that the pair were not satisfied with the haul they received.
At the end, O’Hnow ranted to her viewers, saying “so everybody that says go to the food bank, you know what? I can appreciate all this but there’s not one thing I’m going to eat in here.”
“There’s no fresh fruit, there’s no veggies, there’s no toilet paper,” she continues, “so I guess I’m going out to the backyard to go find my frozen dandelions so I’m going to go fry those up in some water . Lucky day.”
Redditors were critical of O’Hara and Liam’s behavior towards food banks.
“All that stuff is amazing if you have nothing,” the top comment read.
Many people were shocked by the complaints over canned fruit and vegetables, claiming that they were good and even explaining that, “She wants fresh fruit and veggies, but the food bank can’t provide perishables.”
In response to someone asking if anyone else was building recipes in their head as they listed the items, one person said “Yes, so much they could do there. Instead, we get whine, b–ch, moan, complain.”
“Oh yeah, poor you, they didn’t give you exactly what you wanted. Almost like it was free or something.”
Others took the video more personally, providing scenes in their own lives where they were struggling to stay fed.
“Watching them unload that bag felt nostalgic,” one user wrote. “When I was a kid getting food from the pantry meant my 4 other siblings and I weren’t going to bed hungry. Screw these people.”
It’s unclear why O’Hnow deleted her account and the video along with it, but if the comments under the Reddit post are of any indication, it’s possible that it was because of the massive pushback against her behavior.
That said, the lack of healthy options in food banks is a genuine issue.
While they do serve a vital purpose and help satisfy emergency needs, food banks may still be perpetuating obesity among those facing hunger.
Battling with cost and supply issues, food banks rely on non-perishable items, often meaning that low-income communities have limited access to fresh fruit, vegetables and proteins.
“The food banking system has evolved to respond to hunger, obesity, and diet-related illnesses, but when looking at people within the food pantry client population, there are notable disparities,” says Kristen Cooksey Stowers, lead author of the study and Assistant Professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut.
“Long term food pantry users, as well as Latinx and Black clients, have been found to have significantly greater odds of being burdened by both food insecurity and obesity when compared to short-term users and white users.”
Critics of O’Hara may argue that beggars can’t be choosers, but we ought to protect the health of the beggar as much as anyone else!
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.
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