how does waste prevent a shortage from becoming a famine ?

Making the expected production a higher number than the expected need will give the headroom necessary to deal with a shortage without people starving.

If you're aiming to produce food for a population of 100,000, but have the capacity to make food for 200,000, then you can afford to waste half of your food without starvation. You can also accommodate a 50% drop in production without starvation.

So that buffer is expected waste, but it's also starvation resistance.

hmm no big deal, but either i expressed myself wrong, or you are mis-informed about pickling :)

there are several pickling techniques, the most common is lacto-fermentation and:

1/ it doesnt require any boiling. you could be boiling your jars to disinfect them, but thorough wash with soap and/or vinegar is more than enough. so no "cooked food", no license, thanks.

2/ the labour is barely more than any other preparation of that food. actually much less, as no cooking is involved. cut the goods (sometimes even by hands with cauliflowers, no knife is needed for most of the job), immerse them in salt water and that's it. it scales very well.

3/ the cost of the jars can be minimum, by recycling existing ones, and/or investing in 10, 20, 50L crocs that can be used hundreds of time. their cost is thus divided by the number of fermentation cycling....

4/ like for previous point, this is assuming that the people confronted with that question are not here at their first rodeo, and that they may face that problem again, so it's more like an investment.

5/ with a little experience of fermentation, you see and smell immediately if something went bad (mold), and discard those batches. the other do look and smell good and there is no way anyone gets sick. it has worked like this for centuries, way before fridges or the notion of microbiome were invented... I also imagine that people getting food for free have an expectation to use at their own risk, no guarantee, etc... but maybe everyone sues everyone in 'murica, i dunno?

6/ for the taste of pickled cauliflower... well it seems you may never have tried it? like with anything lacto-fermented it is deliciously complex, sour, and goes with everything as a condiment, minced and mixed with other things, or lightly cooked like sauerkraut... it brings vitamins and probiotics that the body craves for, and usually rather tastes "woaa" or "hmmm" than anything else... even if you dont like cauliflower in the first place... do you think the "destitute" want rotten raw cauliflower, or no cauliflower at all, more than the pickled one?

7/ pickling/lacto-fermenting is a practice of autonomy. the labour could be contributed by the people themselves who will benefit from it, who will thus learn a very simple and accessible technique that will enable everyone in the future to conserve food ie. deal with stocks in excess, when they are cheap, abundant, etc. and save them in ways that benefit the body for times when they are not. seems pretty compatible with the objective of anyone collecting and re-distributing unused food!

People shouldn't downvote you, it's an educational experience.

Edit: Nah, fuck this guy.

People should be able to buy what they need, not be at the whims of what a capitalist entity dumps in a food bank.

Not everyone has the ability to store, prepare or even cook vegetables. Due to lack of utensils, food storage or even something to heat with. For many, vegetables would just be a liability and force you to choose between other necessities as you battle limited carrying capacity.

Turns out that money is one of those things that the less you have of it, the harder it is to manage.

And who's supporting them?

Clearly not you.