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Ms Ladibug
PeaAddict
PeaNut 122,198
January 2004
Posts: 1,552
Layouts: 0
Loc: Massachusetts
 |  Posted: 3/1/2013 6:30:06 AM
I read this article and I was so angry and disgusted with the waste of good food. There are so many that go hungry in our country everyday. This food could have been returned to the donors. What do you think?
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"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own."
Benjamin Disraeli
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Handle every stressful situation like a dog.
If you can't eat it or play with it,
Just pee on it and walk away.
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IleneTell
StuckOnPeas
PeaNut 434,842
August 2009
Posts: 2,427
Layouts: 635
 | Posted: 3/1/2013 6:32:33 AM
The link doesn't work. |
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CMHS
BucketHead
PeaNut 407,137
January 2009
Posts: 991
Layouts: 0
Loc: New Jersey
 | Posted: 3/1/2013 7:15:24 AM
It's just another example of the death of common sense in our culture. What a terrible waste. |
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Judie in Oz
PEAing Upside Down
PeaNut 12,503
March 2001
Posts: 7,220
Layouts: 44
Loc: Down Under
 | Posted: 3/1/2013 7:37:20 AM
Such a waste. I also read some of the comments. Are there really lots of people who believe in conspiracy theories? Mentioning "Big Pharma" and how flouride is put in the water to dumb people down. Hmmm.
Judie | |
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Momof1sweet-lil-lad
& the Velcro dog
PeaNut 133,429
February 2004
Posts: 9,102
Layouts: 0
Loc: With my Shadow
| Posted: 3/1/2013 7:46:26 AM
Look at the way the meat is packaged. I wonder if a butcher shop donated services for butchering and packaging. It's too uniform to be individually processed. If so, how on earth could it be considered unfit? How is it any different than if the shelter had bought meat from that same butcher?
If they couldn't keep it, it should have been returned to the hunters.
What a waste! |
The difference between genius and stupidity is genius has its limits. ~Albert Einstein | |
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OKtrae
AncestralPea
PeaNut 131,500
February 2004
Posts: 4,463
Layouts: 15
Loc: Owasso, OK
| Posted: 3/1/2013 7:46:33 AM
A boys home I used to volunteer at had to stop accepting donations from meat processors of deer and privately raised beef and pork. They said it was a federal regulation. That really hurt their budget. |
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Iowa_girl
PeaNut
PeaNut 225,620
October 2005
Posts: 380
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 | Posted: 3/1/2013 7:55:43 AM
Oh for crying out loud! That is nuts!
Iowa has a program called HUSH - to encourage the donation of deer meat. It helps thin the deer population and feeds the hungry.
You take your tagged deer to any participating locker and they process it. The hunter does not have to pay for anything but the deer tag.
The meat goes to the Food Bank and to the Prisons. | |
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taysmommy
StuckOnPeas
PeaNut 61,896
January 2003
Posts: 2,166
Layouts: 53
 | Posted: 3/1/2013 8:40:19 AM
I would say that I'm stunned by this, but nothing that politicians do these days shocks me.
Iowa_girl, We have that sort of program in Missouri, too. I think it's a great idea. |
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cropduster
Ancient Ancestor of Pea
PeaNut 250,388
February 2006
Posts: 5,654
Layouts: 0
| Posted: 3/1/2013 8:45:17 AM
I believe Michigan has a similar program, too. |
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katybee8
AncestralPea
PeaNut 421,136
April 2009
Posts: 4,947
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Loc: Chicago NW burbs
| Posted: 3/1/2013 8:48:26 AM
I see nothing wrong with processed deer meat. Growing up in Michigan, I knew a lot of people who were dirt poor who ate it all the time to get protein. It was the only meat they could "afford."
I read another article linked from this one that said Bloomberg has outlawed any donations -- even things like bagels and soup-- from shops to shelters. That's crazy and a waste.
At the end of the day in fast food restaurants, they have to throw the food away rather than donate it because if someone became sick on it, the restaurant would be held responsible.
The group homes I know rely heavily on Food Bank and grocery store donations. That would be a darned shame if they stopped that here in Illinois. | |
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eebud
Doxie Pea Mom
PeaNut 52,841
October 2002
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dottyscrapper
PeaAddict
PeaNut 311,985
April 2007
Posts: 1,079
Layouts: 0
Loc: UK
 | Posted: 3/1/2013 9:12:04 AM
What a waste!!!!
Surprised, no not really, this says it all I think
It is simply another case of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats running amok and crazed with their own power, barking out orders to privately run organizations and law abiding citizens.
We also have our share of bureaucrats and somehow they think they have to justify their positions by acting like jerks and confirm to everyone else just how stupid they are. They're devoid of any common sense!!
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moveablefeast
do justice, love mercy
PeaNut 265,707
June 2006
Posts: 11,133
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Loc: Northern Virginia
| Posted: 3/1/2013 9:25:55 AM
In my experience - having spent time at the homeless day center in my city - people sometimes think, they're homeless/poor/needy, they should just take what they can get. You sometimes get donations of just any old thing, ratty stained clothes, expired food, things like that.
So while it seemed very clear that this organization was NOT giving old meat or incorrectly handled meat, I understand why there are regulations about what food you can and can't donate. Yes, restaurants have to toss food at the end of the day - it is wasteful - but if it isn't fit to sell to a customer, why should it be served to a homeless person? Because beggars can't be choosers? No - I think that food donated to shelters and food banks should be food that's appropriate for anyone to eat. I don't think the food for people who can pay for it should be more carefully regulated than the food for people who cannot.
So - while I think it is incredibly smart for there to be groups of hunters donating meat to shelters and food banks - I understand why that regulation would be in place. I'm sure those hunters are skilled and have the best intentions and a fine product to donate. But I also understand why a shelter would need to know how the food they provide has been handled, and commercial farms, while not exempt from health safety issues, hold permits and go through a process to prove that they follow health regulations, whereas hunters do not.
If I were Louisiana, rather than ban the donations, I would require organizations like this hunting group, who are donating perishable products, to go through a short training seminar and hold a certification regarding food safety procedures. Take steps to protect the consumer, but don't eliminate a source of good product just because some other twit thinks homeless people should be happy with year-old expired granola bars and canned chili from a bulging can.
I guess what I'm really getting at is that I think this is one of those times when I tend to be in favor of intelligent regulation. Not stupid blanket regulation, and not loose regulation that puts people at risk. Credentialing those involved in the public food production process, and controlling it for safety, is not something I object to at all. | |
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mom_to_a_girl
AncestralPea
PeaNut 97,416
July 2003
Posts: 4,636
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| Posted: 3/1/2013 9:31:39 AM
Yes, restaurants have to toss food at the end of the day - it is wasteful - but if it isn't fit to sell to a customer, why should it be served to a homeless person? Because beggars can't be choosers? No - I think that food donated to shelters and food banks should be food that's appropriate for anyone to eat.
Restaurants often times dispose of food because they made a batch of food and demand was not what they expected. It *was* fit to eat but they had too much of it. In those cases, I would think a shelter would be thrilled to have good food donated.
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moveablefeast
do justice, love mercy
PeaNut 265,707
June 2006
Posts: 11,133
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Loc: Northern Virginia
| Posted: 3/1/2013 9:52:40 AM
Restaurants often times dispose of food because they made a batch of food and demand was not what they expected. It *was* fit to eat but they had too much of it. In those cases, I would think a shelter would be thrilled to have good food donated.
I agree - but food that was preprared for dinner service, then held at temperature, has usually "timed out" for serving before it can be delivered to, and consumed by, people who are in need of it. By the time the dinner service is over, the food is not sellable anymore, and low demand is secondary to the length of time the food was held. In other words, it was fit to eat, and it was fit to eat during the dinner service, but by the time it got into the hands of a needy person, it would no longer be fresh by food service practice standards. Some of it can legally be turned into something else (soup, stew, chili, chicken salad) but a lot of it gets trashed because it has been held too long.
Some food does not time out and can be donated. Panera, for example, donates a lot of bread to shelters and other groups, but (at least here) not leftover salad or soup because each of those things can only be held for a certain amount of time before they are no longer fresh enough to be distributed for consumption.
In other words, we do waste a lot of food, and it seems patently absurd but often it's out of necessity, or at least out of designated food handling protocol. | |
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scrapper100
Budletsmom
PeaNut 65,877
January 2003
Posts: 12,551
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Loc: So CA
| Posted: 3/1/2013 10:27:38 AM
I understand that you don't give bad food or expired food but this is nuts - it wasn't like they were trying to give them horse or some other animal. Tons of people eat Venison. Someone said something about making training available so that they know how to properly process the meat and then allow it to be used. I know another step but at it sounds like these hunters would prefer that so that they could help. |
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auntkelly
BOOMER SOONER!
PeaNut 142,266
April 2004
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Loc: Texas
| Posted: 3/1/2013 10:41:28 AM
I wonder if there is another side to this story like the meat wasn't properly processed? If not, it is a terrible waste. |
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scraps_of_time
AncestralPea
PeaNut 196,615
March 2005
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Loc: in front of my computer - where else would I be?
 | Posted: 3/1/2013 11:00:21 AM
It's my understanding that neither the hunters or the organization is not processing this meat themselves. The deer is taken to commercial meat processors, which I would think would be subject to state health regulations. |
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Free~Bird
Honorary Bearcat!
PeaNut 104,551
September 2003
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Loc: Missouri
| Posted: 3/1/2013 11:05:08 AM
The deer is taken to commercial meat processors, which I would think would be subject to state health regulations.
Bingo!
If the processors are not good enough for homeless people, they why are they good enough for the average person? I guess if your homeless, you're only allowed to have meat packed full of antibotics and steriods.
God Bless America. |
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twinsmom-fla99
PeaFixture
PeaNut 203,642
May 2005
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| Posted: 3/1/2013 11:09:35 AM
My brother donates deer to his local soup kitchen all the time. He has a commercial processor who donates his time and facilities to process/package the meat. DB is allowed to kill a certain number of deer each year as a landowner, and his family will only eat so much of it so he has way more than he needs. He raises cattle (in addition to his "day job" at the plant) and often donates a beef or two each year through the same processer. He is not the only one in the area to do this, and the soup kitchen is able to serve so many more people on its meager budget b/c even though it is pretty easy to get donations of canned foods, it usually has to purchase the meat out of its limited funds. | |
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dottyscrapper
PeaAddict
PeaNut 311,985
April 2007
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Loc: UK
| Posted: 3/1/2013 11:10:48 AM
I understand what you're saying Moveablefeast and totally agree with the concept that food should be fit for human consumption whether you're homeless or not.
This situation however, at least from what I can see is slightly different. The venison IS fresh and collected through the organization of Hunters 4 the Hungry who according to their website are well established. The meat according to their website is processed by licensed( I assume) meat processors.
Hunters 4 Hungry
list of processors
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busypea
boring + nerdy
PeaNut 52,817
October 2002
Posts: 25,205
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Loc: Oregon
| Posted: 3/1/2013 11:21:57 AM
Based on what is presented in the article, it seems ridiculous. But without more information from the Health Department, I don't think it's appropriate to judge the situation.
There were some health concerns related to chronic wasting disease in deer and elk in our area a few years ago. People could hunt and eat their own venison, but it was not allowed to sell (or presumably, donate) venison then.
There may well be some health concern in the deer population in Louisiana that is prompting this. | |
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scrapper100
Budletsmom
PeaNut 65,877
January 2003
Posts: 12,551
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Loc: So CA
| Posted: 3/1/2013 11:40:11 AM
I didn't realized that the meat was being processed through licensed processors seriously this is nuts. I understand they deserve food that is safe but if it is done by professionals and there is nothing wrong with the deer (not diseased) and individuals can eat this meat normally not being able to donate it is really wrong. Seriously I think our government wants people hungry and then having to go to the government for help.
I think what these hunters is doing is great what they are trying to do is what makes America such a great country - helping others and not relying on the government for help. I hope this doesn't spread to other states as well.
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Miss Ang
I'm a Toilet Paper Pea. Are you?
PeaNut 26,443
January 2002
Posts: 11,491
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Loc: Illinois
 | Posted: 3/1/2013 12:45:20 PM
The deer is taken to commercial meat processors, which I would think would be subject to state health regulations.
Bingo!
If the processors are not good enough for homeless people, they why are they good enough for the average person? I guess if your homeless, you're only allowed to have meat packed full of antibotics and steriods.
I know in Illinois, different meat processing plants are governed by different departments in the government. As a plant owner, you have the choice for what type of plant you want to run. Some are regulated by the county and some by the state. Regardless of what type of plant you have, there are strict guidelines to follow.
In Illinois, there is a program available that a meat processing plant must apply to be a part of in order to provide meat to food banks. A hunter may drop a deer off at your plant that they want to donate to the food bank after processing, but if the plant hasn't previously applied for this type of service, the mean can not be donated to the food bank.
The plant may be governed for one thing (for example, custom processing, retail sales, wholesale) but because they aren't approved for that (form isn't filled out), they are not legally allowed to do anything they want with meat. They are only allowed to do what they have previously been approved to do.
Just like the rest of the world these days, there is a ridiculous amount of red tape to cut through before you're legally allowed to do something good for someone else. |
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