CBS New York reported that Michael Bloomberg, New York City’s mayor, has outlawed food donations to homeless shelters in the city because authorities can’t assess their fat, salt and fiber content. The edict was apparently set down in March by an inter-agency task force that includes the departments of Health and Homeless Services.
“It’s not that we question the generous intent of these donations,” Bloomberg explained. “It’s just that we have no way of guaranteeing the quality of the donated food. The risk is that donor ignorance could result in excessive amounts of salt and fat in the diets of these unfortunates.”
The article told the story of Glenn Richter, who had been collecting and delivering donations to homeless shelters on the West Side for two decades, but was turned away recently because of the city administration’s desire to monitor the nutritional content of the food they serve to the homeless. He commented to CBS: “I can’t give you something that’s a supplement to the food you already have? Sorry that’s wrong.” Richter, who said he’s delivered more than two tons of food to the homeless, said Mayor Bloomberg is keeping him from doing good.
But Bloomberg disagrees. “We can’t let short-sighted hunger pangs deter us from our goal of raising the standards for all food consumed in the City. The consumption of excess salt and fat in a person’s diet has serious health consequences that we must prevent.”
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