Bloomberg Food-Polices The Homeless
He's making shelters refuse food donations vis a vis his wrong and unscientifically based ideas on what's healthy.
Via @RadleyBalko, Jeff Stier writes in the New York Post:
So much for serving the homeless.The Bloomberg administration is now taking the term "food police" to new depths, blocking food donations to all government-run facilities that serve the city's homeless.
In conjunction with a mayoral task force and the Health Department, the Department of Homeless Services recently started enforcing new nutritional rules for food served at city shelters. Since DHS can't assess the nutritional content of donated food, shelters have to turn away good Samaritans.For over a decade, Glenn Richter and his wife, Lenore, have led a team of food-delivery volunteers from Ohab Zedek, the Upper West Side Orthodox congregation.
They've brought freshly cooked, nutrient-rich surplus foods from synagogue events to homeless facilities in the neighborhood. (Disclosure: I know the food is so tasty because I've eaten it -- I'm an OZ member.) The practice of donating such surplus food to homeless shelters is common among houses of worship in the city.
DHS Commissioner Seth Diamond says the ban on food donations is consistent with Mayor Bloomberg's emphasis on improving nutrition for all New Yorkers. A new interagency document controls what can be served at facilities -- dictating serving sizes as well as salt, fat and calorie contents, plus fiber minimums and condiment recommendations.
The city also cites food-safety issues with donations, but it's clear that the real driver behind the ban is the Bloomberg dietary diktats.
...Says Rabbi Allen Schwartz of Ohav Zedek, "Jews have been eating chulent and kugel for a long time, and somehow we've managed to live long and healthy lives. All we want to do is to continue sharing these bounties with our neighbors."
Our school contracts our it's food service to Studio Kitchens-they make yummy, healthy fresh food each day. The USDA in all it's wisdom is about to shut the program down because they can't read a nutrition label since it's not prepackaged. Never mind the Studio Kitchen has ingredient lists for them. Also, they can't give seconds to any kid because of portion control. No matter how hungry that kid is-growth spurt, lots of sports, sorry! Go hungry. No second containers of milk, either, same reason.
We have almost no overweight children at our school. But our school can't possibly know what's best for our students.
momof4 at March 20, 2012 6:22 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/03/20/bloomberg_food-.html#comment-3083715">comment from momof4Awful, momof4, that they'll be taking the contract away. When that happened in LA, the government served moldy food nobody wanted. Also, they serve things like skim milk, per Michelle Obama's non-evidence-based health advice -- skim milk basically being like giving white water to growing kids.
Amy Alkon at March 20, 2012 6:29 AM
I don't care if Mayor Bloomberg's ideas are scientifically right and good in every respect. What does he think is going to happen? Is this going to feed more people? Are homeless people going to thank him for this?
Now, I noticed the quote talks only about government-run facilities. Does a similar restriction exist for private charities. Is that possible?
Old RPM Daddy at March 20, 2012 7:04 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/03/20/bloomberg_food-.html#comment-3083884">comment from Old RPM DaddyCan somebody look that up, Old RPM - deadline. (About private charities.)
And I am all for people pitching in and donating instead of sucking up tax dollars for everything. I just gave a few dollars to a girl at the coffeeshop who's going to be part of a privately funded literacy program. (She's crocheting sweaters for coffee cups and selling them, but I just wanted to donate. My coffeecup will remain naked.)
Amy Alkon at March 20, 2012 7:58 AM
It's better that they have no food than the wrong kind of food, right?
Marshall at March 20, 2012 8:05 AM
this is the ugly side... everyone must suffer equally.
I wonder if there is an advocacy group that could sue bloomberg for this... which is astonishingly counterproductive, but you gotta make it hurt for them to stop.
SwissArmyD at March 20, 2012 9:05 AM
Am starved for meat, giddy for lack of sleep,
With oath kept waking and with brawling fed:
And that which spites me more than all these wants,
He does it under name of perfect love;
As who should say, if I should sleep or eat,
'Twere deadly sickness or else present death.
I prithee go and get me some repast;
I care not what, so it be wholesome food.
Storm Saxon's Gall Bladder at March 20, 2012 9:18 AM
Didn't see anything about odious donation restrictions on the Food Bank for New York City web site (http://www.foodbanknyc.org/), so the rules might only apply to government-run facilities. I didn't go so far as to e-mail them, though.
Old RPM Daddy at March 20, 2012 9:21 AM
And this is compassionate brother-love?
I volunteer at a food pantry for folks in need, and we do everything on a donation basis. We don't get any help from the government. We have people bring in home-made or home-packaged foods all the time. We have enough groceries to give our 50-odd families about 10-12 meals/week. Some of the clients are homeless, mentally ill, physically disabled, and that's all the food they get. We would like to be able to give more, but as people go through hard times, they have less money to give and there are more people in need.
I can't imagine what we'll do when the government prevents us from accepting home-packed, home-made foods. What will we do when folks with gardens decide to bring in their home-grown foods and we have to turn them away? Will we have to throw the food in the garbage and tell our clients to go look in the dumpster? I can't imagine anything more demeaning or rock-headed.
The Original Kit at March 20, 2012 9:30 AM
What fun is there in being in power, if you can't control people's lives, visibly and in detail, for their own good.
=== ===
C.S. Lewis: Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.
The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
=== ===
Andrew_M_Garland at March 20, 2012 9:32 AM
Mayor: I made billions in business. The people elected me. I'm handsome and wicked smart. My policies must be good.
Assistant: Absolutely. You're the man.
Mayor: Yet. I don't understand why our schools are so bad, our streets full of crime, people are lazy and on welfare, the wealthy are moving out, and the working man complains of high costs.
Assistant: Sir, it just can't be your policies. It must be the food.
Mayor: [somber] The food ... the food.
Andrew_M_Garland at March 20, 2012 9:44 AM
Well duh, people. If you just let everyone take care of their neighbors out of generosity and a sense of community, there would be no need for a Department of Homeless Services! And then where would those bureaucrats get jobs with cushy union benefits?
This stuff is just self-preservation on the part of government. Supposedly we need these government programs because people won't take care of themselves and each other. Of course, you hedge your bets if you legislate away the ability of people to take care of themselves and each other and keep those government pensions rolling.
What's REALLY scary is that these very same agencies have a vested interest in not solving the problem of homelessness. What oh what would they do if the homeless people ... had homes?
Pirate Jo at March 20, 2012 9:49 AM
Yes indeed, the est way for our ()???) government to ensure that we have nutritious food is by taking away the food.
Abd while the story is about the DHS enforcing this in places they have a stake in, some food kitchens and charity food trucks have been hassled or even shut down.
It keeps getting sillier. At the end of last week, it was announced that a study showed [white] rice is a killer. Which explains why, when Europeans reached China, Burma, and Japan, they found those lands de-populated.
John A at March 20, 2012 10:02 AM
John A, do you have any links to sites that talk about this? My rather cursory search didn't reveal anything, but it would be interesting to hear your take.
Old RPM Daddy at March 20, 2012 10:11 AM
Hmmm, another attempt at seperatign Church and Charity? We should seperate Charity and State.
Joe J at March 20, 2012 10:29 AM
I guess the alternative is eating out of dumpsters and garbage cans, which is what the homeless often have to do if they can't or won't go to a shelter.
Thomas T. Thomas at March 20, 2012 11:02 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/03/20/bloomberg_food-.html#comment-3084134">comment from The Original KitMy little sister makes sandwiches and walks around SF giving them to the homeless. Or was. Not sure if she's still doing it -- probably not because she's pretty consumed right now with studying -- but she was and I thought it was pretty damn great. In some places, it is or will soon be pretty damn illegal.
Amy Alkon at March 20, 2012 1:03 PM
Do all leftists have serious eating disorders? Or is this, as a commenter at another site said, just another example of people who think that telling other people what to do is the most fun you can have with your clothes on?
Cousin Dave at March 20, 2012 5:46 PM
Our community rose up in protest when a group of volunteers and churches who worked together to distribute fresh, home-cooked food to the homeless were banned for distributing food without government licensing and inspections. Our local leaders backtracked and once again, good people were allowed to feed the homeless. So, it Can happen.
Momof4 hit on a sore spot. My eldest son grew 8 inches in 6th grade - to 5' 10". He played sports 4 hours a day. He was starving at school. They wouldn't allow him to have seconds.
In high school, he was not allowed to have seconds for breakfast. The teacher was instructed to throw all of the leftovers away. One time, he and his friends ate the leftovers rather than have them go into the trash. His teacher wanted to press theft charges. Luckily, the prinicpal didn't agree. The boys did have to follow the rules: leftovers go into the trash.
In another class, students tracked their caloric intake. His was 7,000 - 8,000 calories per day. His teacher told him that he ate way too many calories and needed to cut down to less than 2500 calories.. Baloney! He was 6'2" and 150 lbs.
The "secret" to obesity management is quality food and balanced caloric intake and output. If a child is small and inactive, he or she needs fewer calories while a larger more active child needs more. Duh!
Jen at March 20, 2012 5:51 PM
The homeless are picky as hell. Back when we owned a restaurant, we tried to donate lamb cutlets to a place in Pasadena, and was told flatly that "no one would touch lamb". Let 'em eat mac and cheese.
KateC at March 20, 2012 6:02 PM
I had one growth spurt, start of the summer of '94 I was 5'4" by the time school started that September I was 6'3". I hardly slept more than a few hrs a night, and only then from sheer exaustion due to the pain in my bones. And I ate nearly every last thing in the house short of the food storage canisters.
Luckily at my school you could get seconds course thats nearly 20yrs ago now
lujlp at March 20, 2012 6:41 PM
Leftovers go into the trash.....
Purplepen at March 20, 2012 6:49 PM
The homeless are picky as hell. Back when we owned a restaurant, we tried to donate lamb cutlets to a place in Pasadena, and was told flatly that "no one would touch lamb". - KateC
You know what Kate, I believe it. My mother and I used to run a St Marys charity ditribution point. When we took over it was serving 12 people a month. She got it up to over two hunndered every other week
Man could thosue people BITCH
Its too hot, its too cold, its too sunny, it raining could you bring the food over to my house once your done here? - like we could do anything about the weather
I didnt know what time it was - we were in the same location at the same time for over 5yrs and AZ doesnt do daylights savings
I dont like this I want something else
Why is it always something different why cant it be the same thing?
And once they merged with some other charity and it was the same thing the complaint was 'Why is it always the same thing
The thing that pissed me off the most was the expectant, demanding, and entitled attitudes. I swear to god I am never getting involved with another charity
lujlp at March 20, 2012 6:52 PM
Way back in the late 80's I worked a soup kitchen, in west Texas, as primary and secondary cook on Saturdays. In that time I only screwed up one soup that the recipients complained about. (I overused the chicken broth so it was salty as hell. My fault. :-( )
I never had any other complaints in that time.
The soup kitchen was open six days a week. We had regulars on Saturday that we knew came in every day. We never begrudged them. It was a truly eye-opening experience. I don't mind those that are on the edge, and have problems.
Those who don't show "gratitude", or look on something as an "entitlement", or "deserve" charity irritate the fuck out of me. The prior sentence is phrased wrongly, but I don't know how to better explain it. If I donate to the yearly Christmas fund box, I don't care. But I will never go to the distribution.
If I'm confronted with an entitlement to charity without need, I think it would just chill my core.
www.courierpress.com/news/2011/jun/15/no-headline---16a01soupkitchen/
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204630904577056600733993674.html
www.thenortheastgeorgian.com/view/full_story_free/17639443/article-Future-of-Cornelia-soup-kitchen-uncertain?instance=top_stories_main_article
Just a couple of links from a google search
Jim P. at March 20, 2012 7:53 PM
I know what you mean JimP and perhaps I didnt word it the best way either. It not like I was expecting to be tanked profusley, or even at all.
I really dont like most people and my idea of an ideal vaction is a sensory deprivation tank.
But there attiude was they were owed what ever they wanted form whom ever they wanted at a moments notice, it didnt do anyhting to help my outlook on people
lujlp at March 20, 2012 8:37 PM
Can't have the homeless receiving food donations given from the goodness of somebody's heart. Somebody might gain a pound or two.
Bloomberg's health nazis are the most digusting people, and so is Bloomberg.
mpetrie98 at March 20, 2012 9:12 PM
When I was preggers with the twins, I asked my OB how much I should be eating. She replied, "Oh, about 1800 calories a day". Uh, no. I am 5'10" and active, I breathe out 1800 a day. It's shocking how little most people-even MD's-know about nutrition!
momof4 at March 20, 2012 9:33 PM
If I were one of these folks feeding the homeless, I would keep doing it, claim that it's covered by freedom of religion, and dare them to find a jury that would convict me.
John David Galt at March 24, 2012 10:51 AM
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