Wow – this was a surprising read for us this morning! We just read how Mayor Bloomberg in New York City banned food donations to government run homeless shelters in the city. Not because food contamination is the concern, but because the concern is the nutritional value which can’t be assessed?
Why are we talking about this? Well, as one aspect of who we are, we highly encourage donating and giving to others in all circumstances and in all forms of giving: Foods that you were able to get for cheap, new and used clothing, toys, etc., personal care items, etc.
But one other thing that we have alluded to several times, is giving when you have a surplus as well, or even the grocery stores and bakeries giving their “day old” foods to church groups and many other organizations. These foods are fine and a very necessary addition for any one that is starving.
The NYC shelters are rejecting soup, bagels and other fresh foods from area churches and community groups who have a surplus of food after an event. This was a common form of donation around the whole city from the area churches – and usually church food is so fantastic too as it is often homemade with love 🙂
Here’s the quote from one of the articles we saw:
“Mayor Michael Bloomberg in March instituted a ban on food donations to homeless shelters. No, not because of food contamination, but because the city can’t properly assess salt, fat and fiber in donated food and thereby ensure starving people are getting the optimal levels of nutrition.”
It is sad to see that starving people are being deprived of food, especially fresh made foods because they can’t gauge these petty things (petty in this circumstance). Another surprising fact regarding this situation is that the original ban was in March of 2012, but it was brought up in questioning again after both Hurricane Sandy and the increased needs in the area as well as the higher needs for food donations in the cold and holiday seasons. But the ban still sticks despite those things.
Does this seem odd to anyone else??
In the meantime, the rest of the country, we highly encourage you to do what you can to give to others this season and all year round. Even in the form of surplus of fresh foods! It is a beautiful thing to see people giving to those in need in whatever ways they can.
Original Sources of the Story: MSN.com and FoxNews.com
Photo Credit: HiveHealthMedia.com
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