Bloomberg Strikes Again: NYC Bans Food Donations To The Homeless

[Locutus]

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s food police have struck again!

Outlawed are food donations to homeless shelters because the city can’t assess their salt, fat and fiber content, reports CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer.

Glenn Richter arrived at a West Side synagogue on Monday to collect surplus bagels — fresh nutritious bagels — to donate to the poor. However, under a new edict from Bloomberg’s food police he can no longer donate the food to city homeless shelters.

It’s the “no bagels for you” edict.

“I can’t give you something that’s a supplement to the food you already have? Sorry that’s wrong,” Richter said.

Richter has been collecting food from places like the Ohav Zedek synagogue and bringing it to homeless shelters for more than 20 years, but recently his donation, including a “cholent” or carrot stew, was turned away because the Bloomberg administration wants to monitor the salt, fat and fiber eaten by the homeless.

Richter said he was stunned. He said his family has eaten the same food forever and flourished.

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Michael Bloomberg Strikes Again: New York City Bans Food Donations To The Homeless « CBS New York

 

[damngrumpy]

What the hell is happening to the society in general, this is not a left right or
Democrat/Republican situation it is a classic case of stupidity. Do hungry
folks care about salt content? I would think they would be happy to have food.
My god what one happen if someone served a cob of corn? There is butter and
the salt shaker is used liberally.
Which is worse the NRA with its open gun policy or the food police intent of having
people go hungry until the salt level can be checked. Has everyone gone nuts

 

[eh1eh]

Watch out. Hungry people might get a slurpee that's oversize. Lol, Lol.

 

[lone wolf]

Maybe some of those too insulated from reality by wealth should be completely cut off from it for a while

 

[B00Mer]

In Canada Walmart, Costco etc toss the older food in the trash ... Rather than giving it to the homeless shelters.. Something to do with liability.

 

[DaSleeper]

Ever since McDonald got sued for burning coffee, I often have to go back and ask them to pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds to have it hot enough for my taste and double the cup to keep it hot......

 

[Colpy]

Bloomberg is an idiot, and a dangerous one at that.

What the hell is happening to the society in general, this is not a left right or
Democrat/Republican situation it is a classic case of stupidity. Do hungry
folks care about salt content? I would think they would be happy to have food.
My god what one happen if someone served a cob of corn? There is butter and
the salt shaker is used liberally.
Which is worse the NRA with its open gun policy or the food police intent of having
people go hungry until the salt level can be checked. Has everyone gone nuts

In this case OH YES IT IS a Democrat/Republican thing. Bloomberg is the personification of everything that is wrong with the "progressive" Nanny-state..........a lunatic. He should be given a new jacket, extra-long sleeves, laces up the back, and a nice ball gag....and be dropped off the Brooklyn Bridge.

Who voted for this psycho??

Oh.....and the NRA isn't trying to force anyone to do anything, nor is it taking away anything from anyone.........

 

[Goober]

In Canada Walmart, Costco etc toss the older food in the trash ... Rather than giving it to the homeless shelters.. Something to do with liability.

Other grocery chains donate huge amounts. I work for one that does. From the Food Bank to Shelters for women.
I cannot verify that Costco and Walmart do not.
But if the food is past the expiry date, fell on the floor, possible contamination it cannot be donated.

 

[eh1eh]

In Canada Walmart, Costco etc toss the older food in the trash ... Rather than giving it to the homeless shelters.. Something to do with liability.

Yep. They all do.

Did you know?

• More than 36 million tons of food waste was generated in 2011, 96 percent of which was thrown away into landfills or incinerators
• 14.9 percent of households in the U.S. were food insecure in 2011, meaning they did not know where their next meal would come from
• Wasted food means wasted money for businesses and residences
• Food decomposes in landfills to generate methane, a potent greenhouse gas

Food Recovery Challenge | US EPA

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Other grocery chains donate huge amounts. I work for one that does. From the Food Bank to Shelters for women.
I cannot verify that Costco and Walmart do not.
But if the food is past the expiry date, fell on the floor, possible contamination it cannot be donated.

The food has to be safe to eat to be donated. If it's expired, it's not safe.

 

[Goober]

The food has to be safe to eat to be donated. If it's expired, it's not safe.

Exactly.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Exactly.

I think they could probably solve this issue by donating food that was exactly on expiry date. It would be a hard sell anyways and its usually a sell by date not a use by date that is on the food.

 

[L Gilbert]

The food has to be safe to eat to be donated. If it's expired, it's not safe.

Nothing wrong with some of it. A brick of cheddar, for instance. On occasion it gets a bit of mold on it. Not a biggie. Cut the mold off and have at the rest of it. I do and I ain't dead yet. A friend in the Okanagan once remarked that he's had milk last for 2 weeks longer than the expiry date. Freezers help immensely. Things can be frozen and last way longer than the expiry dates on them. Bagels? Same idea as cheese.

Anyway, this is a blatant display of really really foolish bureaucracy. I think Mr. Wolf had a great idea; swap idiot bureaucrats/ politicians lives for the homeless people's lives. Unf'nreal.

I think they could probably solve this issue by donating food that was exactly on expiry date.

Or donating food from whenever shelves are restocked.

 

[taxslave]

Other grocery chains donate huge amounts. I work for one that does. From the Food Bank to Shelters for women.
I cannot verify that Costco and Walmart do not.
But if the food is past the expiry date, fell on the floor, possible contamination it cannot be donated.

Our local chain donates literally tons of food the food bank each year. They also match donations by local charities.
From what I've seen at wallywirld most of the "food" they sell should not be eaten by humans anyway.

 

[#juan]

"Let them eat cake". Wasn't that Mary Antoinette's solution.?...She just lost her head....:smile:

 

[karrie]

In Canada Walmart, Costco etc toss the older food in the trash ... Rather than giving it to the homeless shelters.. Something to do with liability.

Yes, poisoning the poor is frowned upon.

I suspect the origin of this new bit of insanity is the notion that they are feeding the poor, well, poorly. And I can see wanting to have a nutritionist evaluating the daily output of shelters to ensure that they're not devoid of vitamins, overly high in salt, etc. Sick homeless people are more expensive for the tax payer, than the food to ensure they're healthy. But, it sounds like they've chosen knee jerk rules instead of oversight. You can only engineer charity so far before people stop feeling charitable.