Anarcissie
2010-05-30 15:29:43 UTC
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.
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.
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.
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.