A North Bergen church near the border of Jersey City and Union City has, for the last three months, been giving away free food to seniors and children who pass by the church in the afternoon. But apparently, those recipients were not told that the food came from a dumpster.
Rev. Carlos Jarvis, the pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church, said the matter began as a way to help the poor, which the church often does.
He said a church member named Jack first approached them with “a bunch of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers that he had gotten out of the dumpster” around four months ago.
“A Dumpster is one of the most unsanitary receptacles that you could find.” – Richard Censullo
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Jarvis said he and Jack returned to the market and found that much of the food being thrown away was still “good.” Since then Jack, Jarvis, and Jarvis’ wife Diana have continued to bring the recently discarded food from the Dumpster to their church to clean it, he said.
At first it was given to members of the congregation after mass, but for the last couple of months, Jarvis has presented it on tables outside of their church located at 1301 Kennedy Boulevard so that needy people could take it.
Diana said that busses of seniors stop at the table, as well as children coming home from school, the homeless, and the needy.
The Jarvises said they have also begun taking same-day expired bread from local bread distributors’ dumpsters and giving that away.
“If they throw it away in their dumpster, it is clean, because the dumpster only has bread in there,” said Jarvis last week.
Many local residents, some illegal immigrants without jobs, have approached the church to ask for food. The church feels that they are helping others and saving food that would otherwise go to waste.
‘One of the most unsanitary receptacles’
However, just because they think the food looks clean, doesn’t mean it is, an official said.
North Bergen Health Officer Richard Censullo said that he had never heard of an organization doing anything like that before and was concerned on several levels.
“A dumpster is one of the most unsanitary receptacles that you could find,” said Censullo.
He said that he didn’t understand why the church wouldn’t reach out to a local company, since many are trying to give food products away to save money on the amount of garbage they dispose. He said that as the North Bergen health officer, he has connected local companies with organizations, food pantries, and homeless shelters.
He said that in the past the North Bergen Health Office inspectors have had to stop individuals from trying to sell their home-cooked food at various locations because unlike licensed restaurants, there is no way to make sure that food is being kept at the correct temperatures and is not cross-contaminated. He said that the state statute does not differentiate between food that is given away or sold, and that even food pantries and homeless shelters have permits and licenses to give out food.
“We know where [food pantries] are getting their food,” said Censullo. “A lot of the time we’re helping them get the food.”
He said that sometimes, the license fees are waived for organizations like homeless shelters.
Liability
Censullo said that if the farmer’s market was aware that they were taking food from the dumpster, they could also be held liable for any problems.
He was also worried that if anyone ate the food and that person had a compromised immune system, like a cancer patient or an elderly person, they could get sick.
“If one person gets sick and we do an epidemiological trace to that church, that church is going to probably be in court, I guarantee it,” said Censullo.
He said that sometimes when food is thrown away, it’s not because of an FDA or state health requirement, but because it is not safe to eat. It is dangerous to assume that food in a dumpster is there just because of the expiration date, said Censullo.
Inspectors sent out
Jarvis originally came to the Reporter because one of the church buildings, which is located at 1309 Kennedy Blvd., is facing foreclosure since they have had problems paying for it. They originally bought it to extend their community outreach programs, which include helping the population of local immigrants, sometimes illegally in this country, with immigration problems and concerns. He said that giving out the food was an “amazing thing” because otherwise it would be thrown away and because it was bringing more people to the church.
Last week Censullo said that he as well as his office’s inspectors would be looking into the matter.
If the inspectors find that Jarvis has been giving away the food, he could be charged with “distributing food from an unapproved source” and “distributing food without a license,” Censullo said. He said that depending on the discretion of the judge, a person could be given a $200 to $2,000 fine per day for such a charge.
If someone becomes injured, Censullo said that the matter would be turned over to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office and that it could be a criminal offense.
Tricia Tirella may be reached at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.