Case Study: Regulation Gone Amok

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that Fairfax County residents cannot donate food prepared in their homes or church kitchens "unless the kitchen is approved by the county." The Post said that this regulatory crackdown was needed to prevent food poisoning.

Under state and county code, food served to the public must be prepared in a kitchen that has been inspected and certified by the county Health Department. Those standards are high: a commercial-grade refrigerator, a three-compartment sink to wash, rinse and sanitize dishes and a separate hand-washing sink, among other requirements.

Health officials said they weren't aware that food from unapproved kitchens was being served in homeless shelters.

"We're dealing with a medically fragile population . . . so they're more susceptible to food-borne illnesses than the general population," said Tom Crow, the county Health Department's director of environmental health. "We're trying to protect those people."

As Ronald Reagan once said, "The ten most dangerous words in the English language are, 'Hi, I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.' "

The public outrage quickly forced Fairfax County officials to respond to the report. "Nobody and no bureaucratic regulation will interfere with Fairfax County's ability to feed and help the homeless this winter," vowed Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly. "Fairfax County leads the region in a comprehensive approach to ending homelessness, and we won't turn our back on our community now."

Anthony H. Griffin, Fairfax County executive also chimed in: "We want to reassure the public that baked goods such as cookies, cakes, brownies and cupcakes that are prepared at home, as well as packaged or canned foods such as purchased lasagna, may still be donated to the hypothermia centers, and we appreciate this kind assistance from our community."

We congratulate the Fairfax County officials for reassuring the public that holiday donations will not be turned away because they were cooked in grandma's kitchen. Needless, meddlesome and costly regulation should never be permitted to choke economic growth, nor should it be used by bureaucrats to curb charitable giving. This "Cassarole Crackdown" is an egregious example of why some government regulations can be utterly senseless.

To read more about Free Enterprise Watch's commitment to lessening the burden of government regulation on Virginia businesses, click here.