| De: |
Lisa Campbell [ Profil ] |
| Sujet: |
Fwd: STATES TRY TO STOP FOOD NOT BOMBS ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES
|
| Envoyé: |
Apr 2nd, 2009 - 10:33:52 |
|
| |
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Pascal Murphy
> Date: April 2, 2009 10:15:51 AM GMT-04:00
> To: FES_MES_ALT (at) YORKU.CA
> Subject: STATES TRY TO STOP FOOD NOT BOMBS ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES
> Reply-To: Pascal Murphy
>
> STATES TRY TO STOP FOOD NOT BOMBS ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES
> New Mexico is the "Hungriest" State in America Attempts To Stop The
> Sharing
> Of Food
>
> As the global economy collapses and hunger grows state governments
> across
> the United States are launching efforts to stop the all volunteer
> movement
> Food Not Bombs from providing food. This is particuarly strange in a
> state
> like New Mexico. For over a decade New Mexico has been ranked one of
> America's "Hungriest" States. So while state governments are
> starting to
> order Food Not Bombs to stop feeding the hungry the crisis grows
> worse each
> month. The In November 2006, the Food Assistance Nutrition Research
> Program
> of the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a national study of
> hunger
> in America. The study showed that 16.5 percent of households in New
> Mexico
> repeatedly experienced "food insecurity" during the last three
> years, the
> highest rate in the nation. For more than a decade New Mexico has
> ranked
> among one of the five "hungriest" states, but in 2006 we have become
> number
> one in hunger. The Roswell Food Bank closed last year. The remaining
> food
> banks are not able to meet demand. Even formally prosperous states
> like
> Connecticut are attempting to stop every chapter from feeding the
> hungry.
> The United Nations reports an additional one billion people fell
> below the
> poverty line this year and that over 800,000 more people struggled
> to find
> enough to eat when rice prices increased by 70 % in April 2008.
> This is
> the worst possible time for officials to attempt to stop people from
> sharing food yet New Mexico is joining other states heavily
> dependent on
> military spending in the first ever state wide effort to stop Food Not
> Bombs.
>
> Until this year city governments were responsible for campaigns to
> stop
> their local Food Not Bombs groups from sharing food but this spring
> volunteers in Connecticut and New Mexico have become the targets of
> state
> wide efforts initiated by state government agencies. This new trend
> may be
> connected to a number of issues. The fact that these states rely on
> military contracts for jobs while Food Not Bombs is urging a change in
> national priorities could be one reason. Connecticut with Electric
> Boat
> and New Mexico with Los Alamos, and Sandia Labs, many military bases
> and
> more nuclear bombs then any other place on Earth are the first to send
> threatening letters to Food Not Bombs demanding they stop serving
> food.
> Government fears of social disorder caused by the increase in
> unemployment,
> homelessness and public realization that the crisis has been created
> by
> greedy corporate leaders might also be inspiring these counter
> intuitive
> campaigns. Control of food could be another reason. Food is an
> effective
> way to manipulate populations but as hunger becomes a central
> feature of
> the political landscape governments may see an increased urgancy in
> stopping independant programs like Food Not Bombs. Threatening to
> withhold
> meals as a means of suppressing popular anger could be less
> effective if a
> group like Food Not Bombs continues to provide food.
>
>
> While New Mexico and Connecticut are the first two state governments
> to
> issue state
> wide orders against Food Not Bombs a number of cities are also
> threatening
> their local chapters. Flagstaff Food Not Bombs was told to stop and
> get
> permits but could continue if they agreed to stop publicizing their
> meals
> and took away their banner and literature. Police are telling
> volunteers in
> Long Beach and Tacoma, Washington to stop. A March 25, 2009 article
> in the
> Agoravox reports "the city would not allow the Food Not Bombs group
> to cook
> food in the park. We either had to have a business license or
> $1,000,000 in
> insurance to do this. " Several months ago the Petaluma chapter in
> California and groups in Pennsylvania were also threatened. In these
> cases
> police stopped after the volunteers suggested that sharing food is an
> unregulated activity and told about the history of Food Not Bombs
> and our
> dedication to defending the right to provide free meals. When the
> city of
> Orlando passed a law against sharing meals with more then 24 people
> and
> arrested one of the volunteers a jury found Eric Montanez innocent.
> Lawyers
> took Orlando to court to strike down the law and won. The city of
> Orlando
> has been ordered to pay the lawyers $200,000. Anti feeding laws in
> West
> Palm Beach, Florida were also ruled illegal and that city has been
> ordered
> to pay the Food Not Bombs lawyers $100,000. The city of Los Vegas,
> Nevada
> was ordered to leave Food Not Bombs alone the same sumer Eric was
> arrested
> in Florida. During the 90's courts ruled in favor of Food Not Bombs
> in Los
> Angeles rewarding that group $29,000. Like the other chapters they
> continue
> to share meals in exactly the same location they were when the city
> tried
> to stop them. In 1988 San Francisco Food Not Bombs made the mistake of
> requesting a permit but the city did not want to let Food Not Bombs
> feed
> the hungry and local defense contractors pressured the police to
> stop the
> public meal at Golden Gate Park. Police told the media "They are
> making a
> political statement and that's no allowed." After police made 94
> arrests
> the mayor issued the group a park permit but the health department
> refused
> to cooperate adding new restrictions until a federal judge ordered
> the city
> to issue a food sanitation permit. A year later health inspectors
> under
> orders of the mayor revoked the permit and the Recreation and Parks
> Department deleted their permit process. The city requested a court
> order
> and made over 900 more arrests most for "Felony Conspiracy." After
> spending tens of thousands of dollars the city stopped the arrests.
> The
> arrests have been positive inspiring many more people to volunteer.
> Each
> wave of harassment is followed by a wave of new chapters.
>
>
> Sharing food with the hungry is an unregulated activity. Just like
> sharing
> clothes, a place to sleep or books and literature governments have no
> business interfering with the sharing of meals. If the government was
> really worried about the welfare of the people depending on Food Not
> Bombs
> they would provide the food themselves. They have plenty of money
> for bombs
> why not divert some of that to providing healthy organic vegetarian
> meals
> to the hungry without restriction. Food Not Bombs is able to do it.
> Food
> Not Bombs has a perfect 30 year history of providing free meals
> without one
> reported complaint of illness. Food Not Bombs hands out hundreds of
> meals
> in over 1,000 cities world wide each week. Anyone can organize a
> Food Not
> Bombs meal without needing a great deal of money. Vegetarian and vegan
> meals shared in a few hours can be safety provided to the hungry.
> Not once
> has a government outside the United States ordered Food Not Bombs to
> get a
> permit. Anyone that understands the issues of food safety is aware
> of the
> obvious fact that when you are feeding the hungry vegetarian food it
> will
> be served in less then two hours to people and has no time to go
> bad. And
> unlike commercial restaurants and food programs that charge money or
> pay
> their staff there is no incentive to share food that isn't safe.
> Plus the
> volunteers that prepare the meals also eat the food themselves. The
> permit
> requirements are costly even for companies planning to make money.
> In many
> states the process has been designed with the help of corporations
> with the
> intention that meat and dairy could be avalible for sale all day.
> After
> three decades of experiance Food Not Bombs is clear that
> governments that
> issue permits can take them away. Protecting our basic rights is
> essential.
> That is way we say food is a right and not a privilege.
>
> SOME NEWS ARTICLES
> Is Middletown Trying To Torpedo Food Not Bombs? March 29, 2009
> http://www.courant.com/features/hc-susan0329.artmar29,0,1368227.column
>
> Tacoma will never be a destination - March 25, 2009
> http://www.agoravox.com/article.php3?id_article=9566
> Activist group: 'Police told us to stop'
> http://media.www.dailylobo.com/media/storage/paper344/news/2009/02/19/News/Activist.Group.police.Told.Us.To.Stop-3638125-page2.shtml
>
> City Hall urges Food Not Bombs to obtain permit
> http://jackcentral.com/news/2009/03/city-hall-urges-food-not-bombs-to-obtain-permit/
> It's not right to crack down on groups that feed the hungry - March
> 12,
> 2009
> http://media.www.dailylobo.com/media/storage/paper344/news/2009/03/12/Opinion/Its-Not.Right.To.Crack.Down.On.Groups.That.Feed.The.Hungry-3669920.shtml
>
> Statement from Orlando Food Not Bombs on the Arrests of Our Comrades
> Thursday, July 05 2007
> http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20070705121728508
>
>
> To unsubscribe from the fnbnetwork list send an e-mail to fnbnetwork-unsubscribe (at) lists.riseup.net
>
|
|
Message
Retour aux messages 
