Food Police? Mayor Bloomberg Bans Food Donations to Homeless

Horace Boothroyd III
Alternet
March 21, 2012

Apparently going without is more nutritious than having food that is not nutritionally perfect. At least in Michael Bloomberg’s eyes it is. I will admit I will savor chips, cocktail weenies and sugary punches when I wandered the streets as I lacked cooking facilities to make proper food. I also dumpster dived to supplement my intake as I found those food choices lacking for the carbo and protein burning rigors of sleeping outdoors and carrying everything I owned on my back. Homeless and hungry tip-Trader Joe’s has awesome noms from the dumpster.

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…

…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.

I wonder how many Jewish Grandmothers will wake up today to find out what they have fed their families for generations is too unhealthy to feed starving people?

As I pointed out in an unrelated comment earlier, follow the money. There has to be a more plausible reason for this cutting off food resources from the poor. Are they going to then claim the shelters must be closed because they can no longer feed them? Will they substitute variety with oatmeal three times a day? It is healthy, but exceedingly bland thus reducing the homeless from wanting to dine there. Are they hoping that the homeless will now go to restaurants in the city to purchase food?

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

I know of very few homeless that care if their food has too much fat, salt, calories or if they are eating the pyramids proportional values every day. They just want enough food to keep away the shakes from the lack of calories in their system.

This is where the homeless turn for a meal if they have a couple of bucks in their pocket and they need food:

They can’t cook anything so almost everything else is out. And if denying food donations negatively impact shelters they will turn away people that do need help.

What this boils down to is criminalizing poverty.

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This article was posted: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 11:20 am

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