A homeless shelter in downtown Ottawa won’t be accepting leftover pizzas from the Stittsville Little Caesars because of food safety concerns.
Jason Lee, the owner of the pizza place, has been donating 80 to 120 leftover pizzas each week and he’s understandably upset about the shelter’s decision. But the Shepherds don’t have the infrastructure to keep the food at a safe temperature during transport and storage to satisfy health inspectors.
Lee is a big community supporter and wants to help. I hope that he can work out a solution with the Shepherds to continue sending them his pizzas.
What’s bothering me about this story are some of the comments I’ve seen, like this one posted today to a local Facebook group:
Let’s remember that homeless people are also human beings and worthy of dignity and respect. They deserve a higher standard than “better than dumpster food”, no matter how precarious their housing situation may be.
Take five minutes and listen to this CBC interview from Michael Maidment of the Ottawa Food Bank from this morning. People in homeless shelters and people who use food banks are often the most vulnerable in our society and have poor health. They deserve safe, healthy food as much as any other neighbour.
There is a Shepherds of Good Hope 99 bed facility in Glen Cairn and a food bank in Kanata – perhaps distance should be considered in deciding whether the food would get there without being at risk of causing problems as well as the nature of the ingredients and their risk of spoilage