Houston Stops the Compassionate Meal Makers from Serving Food to the HomelessThe homeless are a fragile and very vulnerable population. Lately, I have seen so many posts talking about 99ers being one step from homelessness. I read a post from a person asking if eating from the dumpster was illegal, a post mocking the real plight of those who literally sleep on the streets. Those posts feigning destitution bug me, especially when I read about the real homeless. In Houston a couple has been making and serving meals to the homeless, on the streets, but suddenly the city is stepping in, banning them from feeding the homeless anymore. It seems Houston has health code concerns because the couple who has been working for more than a year with these folks, well, they don't have a permit.
"Homeless People are More Susceptible to Food Borne Illness"Poor people tend to rely on sub par food to get by. Whether it's the on sale mystery meat cut of beef from a grocery store or lunch from a local shelter, they are not privy to the luxury of organic, natural, healthy foods. The lack of food is part of what makes them vulnerable. Now this Houston ordinance is banning the couple from providing anymore meals. Why? Homeless people are more susceptible to food borne illness and the couple wasn't making it in a facility, so this somehow means they might get the homeless sick, the homeless who the city says cannot care for themselves either, if they get sick.
Houston - 10,000 homeless people with 1 in 5 living on the streets. What are the implications of this ordinance? This law that implies food cooked inside a licensed facility is safer food is awfully presumptuous. Do you really think that the City Council is concerned about the safety of the homeless people fed by this gracious couple or is it about the culpability of the city if someone gets sick?
How Healthy is Houston, Anyhow?The Houston Health Department confirmed a Salmonella outbreak caused by tainted eggs, a case that has
personal injury lawyers coming together to pursue the bad eggs (no pun intended, until I saw it was a pun and left it in).
What about the Salmonella Montevideo outbreak from pepper in salami that made several people sick? Or the huge outbreak of Listeria, a deadly disease that actually sickened and killed several people when a Texas produce plant violated a disgusting amount of health codes - 19 FDA observations of the
unsanitary practices by SanGar, the produce company who spread Listeria through their celery. Lawsuits are filed against SanGar Produce, who denied any health code violations, although they were eventually forced to close.
Then there was the contaminated gingerbread houses, an item that many didn't actually realize people consumed after making them in pre-school. The
gingerbread house recall was for gingerbread houses sold by Whole Foods. Texas was on the list.
The Best Taco Trucks in Houston, TexasSeriously. After a Houston news channel ran a biased news "report" on taco trucks and health code violations, a Houston man/blogger set out to see if his taco truck was healthy. After pointing out several flaws and biases in the news report, it seems that
most taco trucks are excellent places to eat, especially Taqueria Veracruz. Plus they are cheap. Good tacos for cheap. Sounds great. Read his comments for more of Houston's best taco trucks.
Does your fancy Houston restaurant have less health code violations that the taco trucks? Probably not. But, you can and should use the
online health violations search provided by the Houston Health Department. Obviously, even in the supposed controlled environments of restaurants, grocery stores, and product plants, there are health code violations.
Homeless Are Still Hungry and Lonely - People Are Still Cold and Cruel My bet is that the meals cooked and distributed were made with more care and safety than most high class restaurants. The city is looking into a special new ordinance to accommodate the situation. Yes, it is appreciated that the city wants to keep the homeless safe, but when you are homeless you know when something is done "in your benefit" or "to benefit you" and there's a difference.
The comments on the YouTube video are more disturbing than Houston stepping in and enforcing the health codes. One comment calls for their "round up and extermination" as if they are vermin. Under the grubby clothes and unkempt appearances of some homeless men and women is skin. It contains a body, just like you. Think of the times when friends have hurt your feelings by ignoring you, real or perceived. Or when you were treated poorly in a customer service situation. Now imagine being homeless, the butt of many jokes, the exposure to the humiliation, and the weather. It's hard. The least we can do is let them eat.