Re: Food Not Bombs Still Feeding the Hungry
Anarcissie
suggestion that one is doing charity. In many areas,
it is illegal to do charity or social services without
being licensed by the government to do so. It is
often illegal to give the hungry food or the homeless
shelter. However, in most places, you can still have
a party where you happen to give away food to all
comers, rich and poor alike. An anarchist party.
Thus far the minions of the state have not usually
prohibited people from having parties in the parks.
In article <4C01BEB0...@columbia-center.org>,
Dan Clore <cl...@columbia-center.org> wrote:
> News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
>
> http://tinyurl.com/39953yq
> Food not Bombs still helping feed hungry
> May 27, 2010
> By Gonzalo Vizcardo
>
> This past Monday, Food not Bombs, the international anti-hunger movement
> started in Cambridge, Mass., celebrated its 30th anniversary. Around the
> world, over 400 autonomous, all-volunteer Food not Bombs chapters,
> including over 200 in the United States, collect food that would
> otherwise go to waste � whether through donations from grocery stores,
> bakeries, etc., or salvaging it from dumpsters or other ways � and
> provide free meals in public places.
>
> It seeks to highlight how hunger can persist amid vast wealth,
> especially when so much of it is directed toward destructive purposes
> like war, and the group argues that food is a right, not a privilege. By
> using food that would otherwise go to waste, Food not Bombs tries to
> bring attention to the pervasive waste of food around us that could be
> feeding the hungry. A May 2008 United Nations report estimated that
> American consumers and retailers throw away $48 billion worth of food
> per year. Timothy Jones, an archeologist at the University of Arizona,
> puts the figure at around $100 billion.
>
> In February 2006, inspired by the original Cambridge Food not Bombs, as
> well as Florida Food not Bombs chapters in Gainesville and Orlando, some
> friends and I decided to start a chapter of our own. We began
> dumpster-diving and collecting food donations and holding public
> feedings at the gazebo at Stranahan Park in front of the main library in
> downtown Fort Lauderdale every Friday at 4 p.m. While small at first,
> more and more people began showing up, either asking for food or with
> food donations.
>
> As has been the experience of several Food not Bombs chapters across the
> country, the city government eventually tried to shut us down. On July
> 27, 2007, a Fort Lauderdale police officer informed us that providing
> "social services" in city parks without a permit violates a city
> ordinance, and that if we did not leave, we would be arrested. We left,
> but the following Friday, Aug. 3, after an outpouring of community
> support where over 100 people showed up with banners and instruments,
> the city backed down, alleging that no such arrest threat had been made
> the week before and that we were welcome in city parks.
>
> Later, as the "Great Recession" unfolded, we began seeing more people
> asking for food, including newly laid-off and even homeless former
> professionals. This highlighted the fact that even though the city had
> tried to shut us down, it had inadequate resources to help its indigent
> population. Indeed, Broward County built a homeless shelter a few years
> ago, only after a landmark lawsuit that prohibited the police from
> arresting the homeless if no shelter was available.
>
> We continue to serve free meals every week, but still hope and work for
> a world where our services are not needed. Until then, this and every
> Friday, we invite you to join us, with food donations or just your appetite.
>
> Gonzalo Vizcardo, a founding member of the Food not Bombs Fort
> Lauderdale chapter, lives in Boca Raton.
Dan Clore
> One way to avoid police interference is to avoid any suggestion that
> one is doing charity. In many areas, it is illegal to do charity or
> social services without being licensed by the government to do so.
> It is often illegal to give the hungry food or the homeless shelter.
> However, in most places, you can still have a party where you happen
> to give away food to all comers, rich and poor alike. An anarchist
> party. Thus far the minions of the state have not usually prohibited
> people from having parties in the parks.
That sounds a lot more fun, too. I don't know how festive Food Not Bombs
usually make their activities. (Sound of "You've got to fight for your
right to partyyyyy!!!!" rising in the background.)
> In article <4C01BEB0...@columbia-center.org>, Dan Clore
> <cl...@columbia-center.org> wrote:
>
>> News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/39953yq Food not Bombs still helping feed hungry
>> May 27, 2010 By Gonzalo Vizcardo
>>
>> This past Monday, Food not Bombs, the international anti-hunger
>> movement started in Cambridge, Mass., celebrated its 30th
>> anniversary. Around the world, over 400 autonomous, all-volunteer
>> Food not Bombs chapters, including over 200 in the United States,
>> collect food that would otherwise go to waste � whether through
>> donations from grocery stores, bakeries, etc., or salvaging it from
>> dumpsters or other ways � and provide free meals in public places.
--
Dan Clore
New book: _Weird Words: A Lovecraftian Lexicon_:
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My collected fiction, _The Unspeakable and Others_:
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News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
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