The Washington Post on Freshly Baked Handouts Forbidden in Fairfax:
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.
Great. Wonderful. Fantastic. So now, according to the People's Republic of Fairfax, concerned individuals can't feed the homeless on their own without the infrastructure, regulatory hassle, and expense of a county-inspected and government approved kitchen.
What's next? Will my wife no longer be allowed to make cupcakes for my kid's class on his birthday? Wait for it, wait for it…
Link courtesy of Reason's Hit and Run via Unqualified Offerings:
The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/28/AR2006112801583.html
Hit and Run: http://www.reason.com/blog/show/116966.html
Jim Henley's Unqualified Offerings: http://highclearing.com/index.php/archives/2006/11/29/5665
What is this piece of legislation suppose to do?
What problem does this piece of regulation address? Is it suppose to protect the homeless? Besides what looks like a needless obstruction of altruism, why did they even think they need to regulate the distribution of cooked food for the homeless??? Why!!
#$@^!!!!
You asked what the legislation is supposed to do. Near as I can tell, as was debated on other blogs – Fairfax County is looking to remove a major source of survival from our relatively small homeless populations. Perhaps in an attempt to steer them toward Arlington and Alexandria. Not necessarily the truth, just a speculation. Of course, it could be just an old-fashioned case of statist regulatory turf expansion, without the dark design I just described attached. Take your pick.
12/3/2006 23:00:00
This calls for some serious civil disobedience.
Too bad I’m in pittsburgh (and pre-occupied with my own stuff)
…my response would have been along the lines of “lol.” I can see the hoards of church and community groups storming the Fairfax County government center (called the ‘Taj Mahal’ because of its enormous size) at night with torches and rolling pins in hand.
I’m admit my home county does some stupid stuff, but thankfully residents are ornery enough to overturn bad policy through public displays of outrage.
That about sums it up. The building is frakking enormous for a county admin center. And does it really need an eleventy mile long entrance road?
12/3/2006 22:52:00
They seek to end private charity. It gives the excuse for more government and more power for them.
1/7/2007 10:37:00