Good Food, Bad Ideas

[XLFD]

Back in 2014, the Ludington Torch reported on a Standish, MI  incident in the article Michigan Agriculture Department Raids Small Farms, Destroys Food.  Summarizing, the state agriculture department forced two farmers and the owner of a Co-op, to dump  out 248 gallons of milk, to break 100 dozen eggs, and to destroy an  undisclosed amount of fresh cream, butter and cheese.  All because the co-op, which had a 'food club' policy, where members had shares of the co-op, didn't have a license to 'sell' food. 

Something similar happened last week in Kansas City, Missouri.  Volunteers collected thousands of pounds of what they say was "perfectly good barbecue" from a barbecue festival in Missouri this past weekend.

WDAF reports they were planning to feed thousands of homeless and hungry people in the city, but when Kansas City health inspectors found out, they ordered it all thrown in the garbage.

"It was the whole gamut. If you can think of the most magnificent barbecue spread, thats what we threw away yesterday by the hundreds of pounds," said Bill Derke, associate director of Hope City.

For five years now, Kookers Kare - a group of barbecue chefs with hearts as big as their stomachs - has worked with harvesters to collect the extra food not turned over to judges.

"And everybody out there is like, 'All right! We are going to eat beans, potatoes, brisket, burnt ends, ribs, its awesome,'" Derke said.

But when Kansas City health inspectors showed up just as they were about to pass out the food, they ordered about 700 pounds of barbecue to be thrown out and covered in bleach.

"They were expecting lunch and for it to be a really good lunch and just having it taken away it was a bummer. We were all bummed out," Derke said.

Health officials say it was destroyed because it wasnt from a permitted establishment, and they couldnt track where the food had been, therefore they couldnt ensure its safety.

Kookers Kares president said if health inspectors had any questions they should have just asked. He said his group has a refrigerated truck at American Royal, and his team of food safety experts only collect food thats piping hot or ice cold. Instead hundreds already went hungry and it appears as many as 3,000 people wont get meals as a result.

The proposed Lakeshore Resource Network to be built at an abandoned lumberyard building, which mysteriously burned down during the construction process of the LRN.  What food crisis would have resulted if this had burned down after the consolidation had taken place?

A consortium of the same community leaders in Ludington that gave us a redundant charter school in Scottville and a planned $16 million low-rent housing project in the middle of downtown Ludington (where each unit will cost about $300,000 to contruct), has had another brilliant idea in consolidating all the Mason County food distribution centers into one building sharing a parking lot with a proposed fire station. 

The new Lakeshore Resource Network will operate on a 'Food Club' model.  Membership is either a $10 or 2 volunteer hours per month.  Once a household is a member, they are automatically given points based on their household size.

Currently there are 8 food pantry services serving Mason County, including 2 mobile food trucks. Each has its own limited hours of operation, source of funding, volunteers, and rules for use.  The current leadership claims this makes it hard to both give and get help, without justifying why.

To the contrary, a diverse and dispersed system better serves those they are meant to serve:  the poor folks of Mason County.  Many of the poor do not have reliable transportation, they may depend on their food pantry being nearby or a food truck coming to their neighborhood.  Those in the remote parts of the county will have to make special arrangements to get into Ludington, and probably have less ability to get food as often as they now do.

Likewise, once all of the other eight food pantry services stop providing food, you may find that the supply of food will diminish, when some of the supplied food is determined not to be properly certified, inspected, or licensed or otherwise fails to meet some administrative guideline that the LRN will establish. 

So just like in Standish with the hundreds of gallons of perfectly good milk, eggs, and dairy products being spoiled by state bureaucrats and just like in Kansas City, where hundreds of pounds of perfectly fine barbecued meats get bleached by city bureaucrats, Ludington is setting the table for more of the same.  Unfortunately, the poor may get the short end of the breadstick.

[stump]

I think that consolidation the distribution centers in Ludington will be a good thing. As it is now many people go from one to another collecting food items from each one. I know a few people who do this on a regular basis. I actually found out that my name was on a list of one of the centers , I have never been to one , but someone was using my families name to get more food. I wouldn't worry about those poor folks getting their hand outs. They drive better cars than you.

[XLFD]

Some people will game the system either way, so don't be surprised if your name is on the list of the new center too, but there is real poverty in the area.  The Salvation Army in my neighborhood used to give out bakery items and other close-dated/post-dated food from Shop and Save and other outlets, and it was much appreciated by some of the local tenants and other paupers. 

Allegedly, somebody strongly complained about the quality of the food, and the program was discontinued; now all that food gets thrown out, and the poor had to spend more money on their food-- this was during a time before food stamps were supplemented by the SNAP program.

Without the convenience of a place in the neighborhood, some of the elderly and the poor suffered and had to arrange for other ways to get food or buy staples at the marked-up prices of AJ's Party Port.  Losing a food pantry in a poor neighborhood is a shame, and doesn't help the overall situation, except for the administrators of the program who can cut some costs by moving under one roof. 

When you consider these were spread not only throughout Ludington but in other parts of Mason County, let me put out an analogy that helps express the problem a little better than an anecdote.  The City is about to put a new fire station up right next door to this.  What if we decide to spend a little more on this building and use it as the county's fire station? 

Instead of having stations in Grant Township, Fountain, Freesoil, Scottville, Carr Township, Riverton Township, Pere Marquette Township, Hamlin Township, and Custer, why not just have one mega-fire station serve the whole county?  We could cut staff, truck purchases, and maintenance in a big, big way, so why do we not even consider this?  Mind you, I'm not endorsing this any more than I am this other consolidation.

[Willy]

I don't understand how this "pantry" situation works. Where does the food come from, and who is in charge of the pantry. Are Government dollars involved? Who's paying for the building, repairs, supplies, coolers, etc. How do people qualify to receive the food and if they qualify by being low income or on assistance then aren't these people already getting food stamps?

[XLFD]

Good questions, Willy, many of which I can only guess at.  Some are given in the video and the link to the LRN, such as you will qualify at some level if you are at 200% of the poverty level, and they give an example that if your family of four earns under the mid $40,000's you're able to be a member. 

This explains more, but not all you ask:  http://www.lakeshoreresourcenetwork.org/  Perhaps one of the folks that are heavily involved in the organization can help us understand more.  I would like to have some kind of dialog in order to figure out why the bonuses of consolidation outweigh the negatives.

[Willy]

Thanks for the information X. I'm always skeptical about any charity with connections to Government agencies. When the taxpayers are footing the bill for Federal handouts to the tune of $400 billion a year one has to wonder why there is a need for local charities. I can understand folks that have emergency needs who  are not eligible for public assistance but my guess is that most of the folks getting food and resources for the pantry are already receiving benefits from taxpayers. Aside from people who really need help, there is an entire subculture of people who live off the system and who are acutely aware of how to game that system.

[stump]

Had to laugh about the quality of the food complaint. When I was a kid, we were part of the poor you mention. I remember going with my dad and mom to I think Walhalla to get bread and other items out of the back of a semi. I remember we brought a laundry basket and the guy's just filled it up. Some of the items were a little green around the edges , not st.patricks day either, but we just pulled it off and ate the rest. Still here 60 years later so it must not have been to bad. The only bad item was that powdered milk. Yuck

[XLFD]

Most of the people I know expected and did the same with their complimentary food, the only people I knew that ever complained about it was those who weren't using the service. 

Deli bakery items do not have a long shelf life, so you may expect a little green around the edges and some crustiness by the time they get off the store shelf and process through the food pantry.  You gotta grin and bear it, and eat the edible parts quickly before it gets worse.