Why is a picnic a crime? For over 10 years Food Not Bombs volunteers in Middletown have prepared a free community meal on Sundays and shared it in front of the Buttonwood Tree book store. But since earlier this year, pressure from the authorities has escalated to a point where volunteers have been fined, one arrested, and food has been literally taken from people’s hands AND thrown away. 

Despite the fact that there are many other groups throughout the state that share food without a license, Food Not Bombs has been singled out, starting in Middletown. Now all four chapters in Connecticut are in danger of being shut down, including the Hartford group which shares food Sunday afternoons at 3pm in Bushnell Park by the carousel.

Why did this start? The question comes down to a deceptively simple licensing matter. The State of CT Department of Public Health wants all Food Not Bombs (FNB) chapters to become licensed. This means serving in a licensed kitchen, paying for food preparation licenses for people who are cooking, and other formalities that would put us under the regulatory purview of the state. Food Not Bombs wants to share healthy, safe food – in fact, we have been doing so for many years. The reason FNB will not become licensed comes down to ideology. We see ourselves as solidarity, not charity. We are sharing our meal with anyone who wants to join to demonstrate our fundamental political belief: that food is a right, not a privilege.   

The Food Not Bombs movement started in 1980 and now is represented in 150 countries around the world. There are 4 autonomous chapters in Connecticut that share some things in common. Each week, they share free vegan food (containing no animal products) at a community picnic that anyone can join.   Most of the food is donated from grocery stores and would have otherwise gone to waste. You don’t have to subscribe to any religion or creed to be a part of FNB, there are no leaders, and it is not a 501c3. Decisions are made by consensus and it is a non-violent, anti-racist, anti-sexist, feminist and pro-queer organization. 

Currently, Middletown FNB is involved in a lawsuit and appeals process at the State Department of Public Health, fighting the cease and desist order that Middletown handed to Middletown FNB on April 3rd of this year. After Middletown FNB refused to cease its activities, the city began arresting and fining its members.

This is what it comes down to. 

Food Not Bombs on the one hand is simply sharing a meal. It’s about creating fellowship and solidarity based on the understanding that 1) we all have to eat and 2) that there’s enough to go around. But Food Not Bombs also has a bigger message. It says through actions that food is a human right, that there is enough of everything to go around if everyone shared, and that everyone should be treated as equals. 

This is why Food Not Bombs shares in a public place. It’s out of convenience, so that people can find it, but it is also as a way to spread this message. This is the reason why Middletown FNB does not want to be absorbed into a soup kitchen (although currently they are partnering with First Church of Christ Congregational as a way to avoid arrest while the lawsuit is pending.)

In targeting Food Not Bombs, the Middletown Health Department and the state Department of Public Health are saying is that there is something fundamentally different between a charity group or soup kitchen giving out food to homeless and hungry people versus a group of friends, colleagues, churchgoers, who congregate to share a meal, potluck or otherwise. Food Not Bombs says that there is no difference- that a community meal can indeed exist between people of different economic status, backgrounds, age, race, gender, etc.

While people may think that Food Not Bombs is being contrary for the sake of argument, they need to understand that this is a question of our firmly held beliefs. FNB opposes the system that differentiates between a charity group and a picnic or cookout. It opposes the structure that exists where a few have much and many have little. It opposes the assumption that there must be scarcity, hunger, and poverty. 

Throughout history, there has always been resistance against laws that are not in the common good, laws that divide people up by category and type. There is something fundamentally wrong with not recognizing a simple community meal for what it is, just because some of the people who help and eat happen to be poor. Are people so different from each other that sharing a meal has to be labeled as “charity” and therefore regulated, while at the same time the government ignores the many events happening in Middletown every day that arguably violate its health code, like picnics, potlucks, bake sales and lemonade stands?

There are many examples of times when the government’s laws were not in the best interest of its citizens. Decades ago, rules that divided people by skin color prevented people from eating at the same lunch counter. We see ourselves as part of this bigger struggle. We say there is no difference between haves and have-nots and everyone in between. That’s why we are a community meal, not a charity. 

Each Sunday for the past 13 years (and Saturdays for the past 4), people have come together next to the carousel at Bushnell Park in Hartford. When it rains, we put up a tent. In winter, we make hot cocoa. In summer, we brew iced tea and relax under the shade of the trees. We meet new people, we see old friends, we eat.

We estimate that in Hartford, there have been 884 meals served by the local chapter of Food Not Bombs since it started in 1996. That’s at least over 17,000 plates of nutritious, safe food for people who are hungry, people who get together and form a community each week. It would be a shame for that to stop.

–Hartford Food Not Bombs