In a rare act of compassion, Health Officials in Fairfax County, Viriginia, have begun stringently enforcing health codes to ensure that homeless people don’t get food poisoning.
Under a tough new Fairfax County policy, residents can no longer donate food prepared in their homes or a church kitchen — be it a tuna casserole, sandwiches or even a batch of cookies — unless the kitchen is approved by the county, health officials said yesterday.
They said the crackdown on home-cooked meals is aimed at preventing food poisoning among homeless people.
But it is infuriating operators of shelters for the homeless and leaders of a coalition of churches that provides shelter and meals to homeless people during the winter. They said the strict standards for food served in the shelters will make it more difficult to serve healthy, hot meals to homeless people. The enforcement also, they said, makes little sense.
“We’re very aware that a number of homeless people eat out of dumpsters, and mom’s pot roast has got to be healthier than that,” said Jim Brigl, chief executive of Fairfax Area Christian Emergency & Transitional Services. “But that doesn’t meet the code.”
After all, if homeless people don’t eat, they can’t get food poisoning, can they? Don’t worry, though–Fairfax County officials have assured us that they are “trying to protect these people.”
By providing a nice incentive to get out of Fairfax County.
I’m as big a fan of separation of church and state as the next guy, but stamping out the Christmas spirit in favor of Scroogean Humbuganism probably isn’t what the Founders had in mind.
(link via Radley Balko)
