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| Remember food for the needy?; No more... | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 30 2006, 06:35 AM (272 Views) | |
| George K | Nov 30 2006, 06:35 AM Post #1 |
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Finally
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Freshly Baked Handouts Forbidden in Fairfax County Says Health Of Homeless Is at Issue By Jacqueline L. Salmon Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, November 29, 2006; A01 The casserole has been canned. 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." County officials estimate that about 2,000 people are homeless in Fairfax. They are served by a network of shelters that swells to more than three dozen over the winter. FACETS, a Fairfax nonprofit group, coordinates most hypothermia shelters, which are set to open Friday in two dozen churches and other facilities. The crackdown came after the county Health Department received a complaint about food being served to the homeless population that was bedding down at area houses of worship as part of the wintertime hypothermia program that began last year. Health officials took a closer look at what shelter residents ate and where the food came from. Under state and county code, food served to the public must be prepared in a kitchen that has been inspected and certified by the county Health Department. Those standards are high: a commercial-grade refrigerator, a three-compartment sink to wash, rinse and sanitize dishes and a separate hand-washing sink, among other requirements. Health officials said they weren't aware that food from unapproved kitchens was being served in homeless shelters. "We're dealing with a medically fragile population . . . so they're more susceptible to food-borne illnesses than the general population," said Tom Crow, the county Health Department's director of environmental health. "We're trying to protect those people." |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| The 89th Key | Nov 30 2006, 06:38 AM Post #2 |
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Reminds me of this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=0eipl17WpOo |
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| Daniel\ | Nov 30 2006, 07:00 AM Post #3 |
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Fulla-Carp
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Trying to protect them by letting them starve? This is very likely to be part of an effort to get the homeless population to migrate elsewhere. |
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| JBryan | Nov 30 2006, 07:11 AM Post #4 |
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I am the grey one
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Obviously, the solution is to, instead of delivering the fresh cooked meals to the shelter or soup kitchen, deposit them in the dumpster out back. Problem solved. |
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"Any man who would make an X rated movie should be forced to take his daughter to see it". - John Wayne There is a line we cross when we go from "I will believe it when I see it" to "I will see it when I believe it". Henry II: I marvel at you after all these years. Still like a democratic drawbridge: going down for everybody. Eleanor: At my age there's not much traffic anymore. From The Lion in Winter. | |
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| Frank_W | Nov 30 2006, 07:23 AM Post #5 |
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Resident Misanthrope
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Agreed, J. I'm a big fan of jobs for the needy, too. People wander into my company all the time, asking for money. I'll offer them the dignity of work in exchange for money. If they want to vacuum the floor, I'll give them ten bucks. If they want to clean the windows, I'll give them ten bucks. 99% of them give me a dirty look, offer a few expletives, and stomp out. I'm not an asshole about it, but I don't believe in giving people handouts. If they are hungry, I'll buy them a sandwich. If they need money, it's dignifying to work for it. A guy came in, and because he was truly hungry, he cleaned the windows and did a good job of it, too. I gave him $20.
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Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin." Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!" | |
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| Daniel\ | Nov 30 2006, 07:31 AM Post #6 |
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Fulla-Carp
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Frank, why in particular would they wander into your company asking for money? Honestly, that seems strange for people to wander into a business asking for money. |
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| Frank_W | Nov 30 2006, 07:41 AM Post #7 |
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Resident Misanthrope
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Well, the company is a small one, with a big glass window on the front of the building. People wander in all the time. The ones that piss me off, are the ones who come in with a case of goods, trying to sell them. Toys, windchimes, meat off the back of a refrigerated truck, art, etc. We get some real freaks... |
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Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin." Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!" | |
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| ivorythumper | Nov 30 2006, 07:44 AM Post #8 |
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
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Wasn't there a thread about Las Vegas shutting down some street corner soup kitchen? |
| The dogma lives loudly within me. | |
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| Dewey | Nov 30 2006, 08:02 AM Post #9 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Daniel, those kind of walk-ins can be pretty common. We actually had problems with walk-ins like that when our office was downtown, Frank. We eventually had to put a lock and a doorbell on the front door. |
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"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685. "Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous "Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011 I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14 | |
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| Frank_W | Nov 30 2006, 08:09 AM Post #10 |
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Resident Misanthrope
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Well, I sit right next to the front door, and between me being who I am, the smallness of this town, a "No Soliciting" sign on the door, and the fact that I threatened one bum with being arrested for vagrancy, it's all but tapered off to nothing, over the past year or two.
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Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin." Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!" | |
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| Dewey | Nov 30 2006, 08:13 AM Post #11 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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The fact that this Health Department bureaucrat can sit there and say these things without even a hint of his own cluelessness and perverse logic - and the fact that I've encountered so many equally clueless people in positions of governmental authority - is one of the biggest reasons for my political views being what they are. |
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"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685. "Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous "Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011 I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14 | |
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| ivorythumper | Nov 30 2006, 08:36 AM Post #12 |
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
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Does that mean you've become an anarchist? |
| The dogma lives loudly within me. | |
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| Jolly | Nov 30 2006, 08:50 AM Post #13 |
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Geaux Tigers!
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A few years ago, my friend and I had just finished shopping at one of the local grocery stores, when we were hailed in the parking lot by a young woman. A bit bedraggled, but not bad looking if she'd have pulled herself together, she asked us for money for her and her hungry baby. My friend caught my arm as I was reaching for my wallet, and told her that he hould be happy to buy her $50 worth of groceries, if she'd just give him long enough to put his stuff away in the truck. When she found out he was serious...that no money was forthcoming, but that he actually wanted to buy milk, eggs, bread, etc., she blistered his ears pretty good with several words that young ladies should not use in polite company. |
| The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros | |
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| Jolly | Nov 30 2006, 08:53 AM Post #14 |
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Geaux Tigers!
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Oh, and another thing.... Down here, the food stamp program has gone to a credit card type of system, named Louisana Purchase. Go the right part of town, and you'll be hit up two or three times in the parking lot of any grocery store. It was thought that by going to a card, instead of paper funny money, that fraud could be averted. Now, instead of selling the food stamps to you (50 cents on the dollar), they'll go in and help load your cart, then pay for it on their card. The money still gets exchanged in the parking lot... |
| The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros | |
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| Frank_W | Nov 30 2006, 08:55 AM Post #15 |
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Resident Misanthrope
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Yeah... Sadly, that's all too often the case with such people. I myself, left home with $20 and a shaving kit at the age of 17. |
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Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin." Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!" | |
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| Frank_W | Nov 30 2006, 08:56 AM Post #16 |
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Resident Misanthrope
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I've become a Frank-ist. "Frank is individually, personally responsible for what happens in Frank's life." -Frank "Any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one." -Henry David Thoreau "Do all that you have agreed to do, without infringing on the rights or property of others." -Maybury's Law "Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?" That's it. That's all.
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Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin." Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!" | |
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