Posted on 04/10/2009 3:09:38 PM PDT by reaganaut1
ROCHESTER, Pa. -- On the first Friday of Lent, an elderly female parishioner of St. Cecilia Catholic Church began unwrapping pies at the church. That's when the trouble started.
A state inspector, there for an annual checkup on the church's kitchen, spied the desserts. After it was determined that the pies were home-baked, the inspector decreed they couldn't be sold.
"Everyone was devastated," says Josie Reed, a 69-year-old former teacher known for her pumpkin and berry pies.
Sold for $1 a slice, homemade pies have always been part of the Lenten fish-fry dinners at St. Cecilia's, located in this tiny city near Pittsburgh. Similar dinners are held in church basements and other venues across the country this time of year.
The problem is the pies are illegal in Pennsylvania. Under the state's food-safety code, facilities that provide food at four or more events in a year require at least a temporary eating and drinking license, and food has to be prepared in a state-inspected kitchen. Many churches have six fish fries a year, on Fridays during Lent. St. Cecilia's has always complied with having its kitchen licensed, so food made there is fine to serve. But homemade goods don't make the cut.
The disappearance of Mary Pratte's coconut-cream pie, Louise Humbert's raisin pie and Marge Murtha's "farm apple" pie from the fish-fry fund-raisers sparked an uproar that spread far beyond the small parish. The local paper dubbed it "piegate," and a nearby bakery donated pies to the church to help fill the gap at the dessert table. There are reports of other churches continuing to sell contraband pastries. Legislation to overturn the baked-goods ban is being discussed.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
The State just wants it’s cut. If the people were to put a few local pols out of their jobs at the next election, and let it be known why, then maybe it would change.
These people are. 1. Christians 2. Legal Americans 3. Taxpayers 4. European ancestory 5. Supports church activities. I’ll stop here.
Atlas Shrugged
this is so much Christian bashing.
Ukrainian churches are literally built with millions of pierohi made by the parish.
Cake sales build Baptist churches.
When do we wake up?
These regulations, of course, have no real purpose but to kill the competition of the big businesses that lobbied for their passage in the first place.
the federal congress is working on food saftety laws that go way beyond homemade pies. The federal food safety laws will require farmers to document all food that leaves their farm, how it was grown, and to to whom it was sold, or given (to family or neighbors). The laws are designed to favor large conglomerates over the small farmer, including the small organic farmer.
Now they wake up to find what happened while they were too busy to monitor the 'pols and read the fine print in all those laws that were passed in their best interest - the wings of freedom have been clipped!
While they squawk like terradactyles they have yet to realize this is exactly what they keep voting into office.
I say GOOD! Pass the popcorn and enjoy the show of the imbiciles.
Once they clean up all the ‘undocumented’ pies maybe they can get around to that pesky illegal alien problem
Selling pies on the first day of Lent? I always thought we had to give up that type of thing during Lent. The Health Inspectors always ruin everything...
Contraband? ROTFLMAO. That made me laugh for some reason. I guess because it is so outrageous that I either laugh or get really pissed off.
Considering this is Pennsylvania, it’s likely they didn’t bribe the inspector.
"Ukrainian churches are literally built with millions of pirogi made by the parish."
Are we coming down to having pirogi police?
I wonder how the PA Amish are dealing with this.
My first thought, they were not selling any ethnic food. The inspector would have been afraid to enforce any rule.
Multiculturalism only applies to the "politically correct" culture.
sounds like thuggery to me
Facsists!
Yep, you’re right. Hereafter when we have a fund raising in church, let’s make it “DONATIONS ONLY....thank you”
Fr. Mike is a great guy, and the Fish Fry is delicious !!
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