Starving people do not have food allergies...
In a post-communist society there are two classes of people: the very rich and the very poor.
The very rich have made it. The others have not.
They are usually older people and mostly women. The regime had thought there would be a small social retirement fund for the women who have had 2 or more children and have never worked. Generally it was not expected from women to work except for child care. The husbands had the jobs and the retirement money. So, if you look closely on the streets of a post-communist city you can see them - old men and women with nice enough clothes (relics from the pre-retirement times). Though they are nicely dressed, they are very thin and have a weird way of looking at you.
He was a teacher. His pension is 60 Euros a month. It is enough for him to pay water and electricity bills and have enough for a piece of bread once a day. He cannot get any drugs when he is sick, there is no heating. He is smartly dressed in a suit and shirt. He stalks the trash containers near popular fast food spots. He has enough to eat only Friday and Saturday night. The other times he either gathers fruit from the state park, or in winter drinks hot water in order to be able to fall asleep.
She is an 80 years old woman. She is dressed in her yellow summer dress and she is one of the lucky ones. She lives near a mall and can sit away from the wind and rain. There are offices here and she can sit in the food court. She has asked the cleaning lady and gets the unfinished meals of the office people. She can sample a lot of different types of cuisine and eating once a day she can have enough calories to last till the next day. And there is enough here. There can be several of her, splitting the lunch and dinner rush and the food does not go into the bin and to waste.
She is 75 years old and has lost one arm due to sickness. Her little girl is all grown up and drives a beautiful silver car that is very fast. She gets 50 Euros from the state - all that is left from her husband and she begs for money or food at a corner of the main shopping street in her town. Her children have something better to do today.
She is 65 years old. She is a widow since she was 35. She has 4 children - at least one is her sister's, because she was sick as well. She needed to work in order to feed them and had no funds to afford university degrees for them. So they work blue collar jobs and have almost no time. They drop by every once in a while to deliver food and blankets. She has adopted a stray dog in order to not be lonely. She goes out every morning and searches through the trash bins for old bread and other food stuffs. She feeds her dog and all the strays around - they also have souls, she believes. This winter her heating was off and her boiler was not working. She had no choice and had to bathe with cold water. She had to hope that her neighbors will help somehow so she wont freeze to death come next winter.
He is 85. He was somebody once. Had 3 children, his wife, career and his mistresses. He left his wife as soon as he could and had the time of his life. He knew not what moderation was. His children escaped and vanished. He is now at a home - sick, blind and alone, relying on strangers for a bit of bread and conversation.
She was almost 90. She had worked a bit but not much and after her husband died the government gave her 65 Euros. She could not afford more than bread and tea. Very soon she just fell ill and withered away. She had sold it all - her ring, her good clothes, her books. Now, when she had nothing to give, she was alone and waiting for her husband to come back from the store.
The ones who were left after the change have to live with 50 to 200 Euros a month as the retirement funds were emptied out by the fleeing government officials, various frauds and everybody who was allowed to. Many of them were left by their children who emigrated in search for a chance.