Fans of the beloved 90’s sitcom Seinfeld will no doubt remember the words of the Soup Nazi which were quickly directed at any customer who did not strictly follow his no nonsense rules for standing in line, ordering, and payment at his popular New York deli.
“No soup for you! Â NEXT!” the Soup Nazi would shout at the red faced customers who would silently slink away in shame after being lambasted for not adhering to his standards.
New York Mayor Bloomberg has taken Soup Nazi’s tactics to a whole new level with his Administration’s banning of food donations to all government-run facilities that serve New York City’s large homeless population.
The nanny-esque ban, put in place in March 2012, still stands despite city resources stretched to the breaking point by the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy on the City’s five Boroughs in October 2012.
Perplexingly, the reason for the ban is not the result of homeless getting ill from food contamination!
Rather, Mayor Bloomberg has become New York’s new Soup Nazi by insisting that because the nutritional content of donated food cannot be adequately assessed by the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), homeless shelters are thereby required to turn away all Good Samaritans wishing to donate even such innocuous items as soup and bagels.
Seth Diamond, Commissioner of the DHS, defends the decision saying that the ban is in line with Bloomberg’s passion for improving the nutrition of all residents of New York City. Â The measure tightly controls what can and cannot be served at city run facilities for New York’s down and out including portion sizes and the amount of sodium, fat, fiber and calories per serving.
No exceptions to the strict ban are given even for established donation centers with a healthy track record such as Ohab Zedek, an Upper West Side Orthodox congregation which has donated freshly cooked and nutrient rich foods left over from synagogue events for over ten years.
Mayor Bloomberg’s relentless pursuit of a New York food utopia through implementation of his social justice agenda, while well meaning, is certain to fail (note the ban on all sugary sodas larger than 16 oz in September 2012 which head scratchingly exempted diet sodas which are arguably just as bad if not worse as diet drinks have been shown to trigger overeating).
The reason is that is removes all personal choice and responsible actions from the individual – be it positive or negative.  If people want to drink a Big Gulp, they should be free to do so.  And, if citizens like Glenn and Lenore Richter, who lead a team of food-delivery volunteers from their local congregation, want to donate fresh foods to homeless shelters in their neighborhood, they should have the freedom to perform such charitable activities as well.
Attempting to control consumer behavior with a socially “just” agenda cannot and never will accomplish health. Â It just creates a populace that becomes highly adept at circumventing the “rules” such as what happened in America during Prohibition.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source: Nanny Bloomberg Bans Food Donations to Homeless Shelters
Just because giant sodas are bad for you doesn’t mean that our government should ban them – what happened to personal responsibility? Do you want the government to also ban your ability to grow your own food because that is where we are headed…
Personal responsibility is where it’s at. Remember, you are a consumer.
You have the individual right (at this moment at least) to not purchase or consume
bad food or drink.
i’m an ny’er and i’m tired of people bashing bloomberg. i’ll have to read more about the soup issue, but i’m all for banning giant sodas. portion sizes makes a huge difference in health/weight. i spent a year living in london, where portions are normal (what americans would call small), high fructose corn syrup is illegal, gmo’s are banned, there are a lot fewer pesticides used, many weird food dyes/additives are illegal, etc. and it is a WAY better place to live! and people are thinner and healthier. you buy a tomato or onion at the store, and it is amazingly flavorful. i’ve never found that in this country, and i buy organic/farmer’s mkt/csa.
This is just another attempt by a government agency to try and control the people. When people contribute food that saves the city a lot of money Maybe the mayor should donate his salary to feed the homeless.
So restricing cup sizes or controlling food donations is going to help us? The problem is that companies with deep pockets and agendas are able to offer poison in pretty packages and the government is NOT going to stop that, being that they are all in bed together. Not to worry, sick care is there for us, another behemoth ready with it’s greedy hand out. It works so well, keep us healthy enough to generate $$, then when we are past our prime, sick enough to give whatever money we have left back into the system.
When/if I see a politician truly addressing the root of the problem (out of control companies) I will take notice. As long as they want to control MY freedoms, I know what they are up to.
What’s the answer? Wish I knew! Too many people are alsleep and attached to the government umbilical cord.
“If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as the souls who live under tyranny.”
Thomas Jefferson (1778)
That was in response to Kenny…
Can I just say that I wish New York had New Jersey’s mayor during all of this. I am very upset with Bloomberg, for numerous reasons insofar as the way in which this whole Sandy thing was handled, or is being handled. Thanks for posting.
Signed,
Disgusted in Maryland, and for once, glad I have my crappy mayor.
I’ve been reading through the post and this “Kenny” person is starting to tick me off. Bloomberg is a nazi (who is probably a Zionist and not an actual jewish person). I can’t believe that someone would agree with the over-regulation of food. First it was soda, and now it’s what the homeless can and cannot eat. Next they could go after our way of life. They could install cameras in our kitchens to make sure that we wouldn’t eat our beloved butter, raw milk, and unpastuerized lacto-fermented goodies. But, no, that wouldn’t be all, Bloomberg or any other government person can make more and more regulations, even from telling you what to wear (clothing may be offensive to people, except for tan pants and gray polo shirts), they could even tell you how to wear your hair. This regulation stuff scares me, as it can become a slippery slope.
I will agree with most of the previous posts and feel that the big brother attitude of our government is not truley in the best interest of the people. BUT let us not loose site of a very good point that Yana Wagg Gardephe brought up,…. donations can still be made to private run ‘soup kitchens’ . I suppose an other option would be to pack a few hot meals, go to the homeless persons location, sit down and share with them…… they are sill people.