Abe Bobman of Middletown Food Not Bombs discusses food activism and their recent battle with the health department.

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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

The man knew this, he acknowledged it, but something drove him to just keep walking.  Why did the same man who was successful enough to buy anything he saw not care to give a few dollars or some food to the starving boy?  Quite simply put, his decision to not help the boy in need is not only illogical, it is immoral.  But we are all doing the same thing as this man did every single day, and on a much larger scale.  One-third of the world is starving even though we have the power to feed them.

The cost to end world hunger, along with diseases related to hunger and poverty completely would be about $195 billion a year, according to The United Nations. That is a lot of money, almost two hundred billion dollars. When put into context of global spending, however, it is a paltry sum. More money is spent on cigarettes yearly.  The US alone spent over $700 billion on its military last year, and is spending even more this year.  Why are we so quick to spend money for lung cancer and bullets, yet the idea of spending it on helping others is immediately dismissed as some evil socialist thought?  Why are people likely to condemn the man who ignores a hungry child, when they ignore billions of hungry people themselves?

Chapter IX of The United Nation’s charter states that its member states must take both joint and separate action to promote
“…solutions of international economic, social, health, and related problems.”  So why, then, do its member states not work together to raise $195 billion to help the world, to promote higher standards of living and help billions of impoverished people. When $195 billion is like pocket change to these countries that spend trillions yearly, they are simply failing their duties and promises to their people.

Think of it conversely, if everybody in the world were already free of poverty and hunger, could it be justified to kill hundreds of
millions of people through starvation and disease to gain a few billion dollars?  If a nation did explicitly kill people for a couple
hundred billions of dollars, would its people not be outraged?  In reality, countries are causing the deaths of millions to save money.

Four hundred million people will starve to death this year.  Some may argue that the impoverished shouldn’t be helped, that they could survive if they simply worked harder, but feeding the hungry is not an evil socialist principle.  In fact, when almost half the world lives off of less than $2 a day generally doing work that wouldn’t even be legal here, it is simply a flaw of capitalism. When 15 million children die of hunger in a year, it is a failure on our own part as humans to have not helped them.

In addition to the lack of money being used to help end hunger, there is a lack of support for direct action against hunger and poverty. Food Not Bombs, an organization that aims to alleviate hunger by sharing food that would have otherwise gone to waste, is being attacked by the both the state of Connecticut as well as closed-minded citizens.  Any non-profit organization that isn’t corrupt doesn’t have enough support for helping the impoverished overseas.  Many people are unfortunately too busy debating trivial issues that the media spoon-feeds them to take a step back, see the big picture, and create change where it is possible. During this recession, it is hard enough to support oneself, devoting time to helping those around you and overseas can be tough. However, it is necessary for us to try.

When our countries do not provide adequate aid to others despite it being so simple, so attainable, they are failing their duty.  If we do not fight our nation’s inaction, then we are failing our responsibility as citizens of a democratic nation.  If we do not help
others because of greed or laziness, then we are failing our responsibility as fellow human beings.

Since you don’t have $195 billion in your pocket, get out there and help people hands-on.  Help Food Not Bombs groups all over Connecticut that have operated for over a decade continue to share food. Volunteer somewhere.  Share a meal with that homeless person that everyone else looks at with disdain.  Get active, it’s your utmost responsibility.

Food Not Bombs members are calling for a rally in support tomorrow as the first appeals hearing will be held at 9AM.  The hearing itself is also public and Food Not Bombs welcomes anyone who wants to show support.   In recent months, Middetown Food Not Bombs has experienced the most direct interruption by health department officials, including a cease and desist order, citations, confiscated food and cookware, and one arrest.  See previous Hartfordimc.org posts for further details.

Tomorrow’s rally will run from 8-9AM with the hearing to follow.  Food Not Bombs will provide free food and encourages people to bring signs showing support.

Community resident, turned FNB activist, Fred Carroll had this to say about the ongoing clash:

“Food Not Bombs has been sharing vegetarian meals and groceries in Middletown for at least ten years.  For the last two or three years I’ve participated in the meal sharing on Main Street.  I am not homeless, but I have not had a steady income during this time, and the political discussions and healthy and nutritious Sunday meals became an important part of my week.  I recently became a more active volunteer with the organization.  Sharing food with people is our way of saying that food is a human right, that there is enough of everything to go around if communities were more empowered, and that everyone should be treated as equals.”

Carroll went on to liken FNB’s Sunday routine to a picnic.  The injunction maintains that FNB does not distribute food in the same way as a soup kitchen or restaurant and therefore should not be subject to the same Health Department regulations.  Said Carroll, “What’s next?  The Health Department will come in and regulate people’s picnics in the park?”

The Middletown chapter of FNB has been operating for more than ten years without incident or clashes with municipal or state officials, until earlier this year.  In addition to the cease and desist order, FNB activities have been subjected to two citations and one misdemeanor charge, and Middletown health officials confiscated and threw away food, literally right from the hands of hungry residents.

In addition to actions by the city of Middletown, Hartford IMC has also learned from inside sources that there may be a statewide crackdown in the works against all Food Not Bombs collectives active in the state. In response, individual activists from Hartford Food Not Bombs have offered support to Middletown FNB.

HIMC will continue to cover this story as developments unfold.

Photo credit: Ed McKeon, Middletown Eye

Audio clips:

The ongoing conflict between the Middletown Health Department and the Middletown chapter of Food Not Bombs came to a head on April 26. While the police this Sunday ultimately ticketed two individuals for disobeying the cease and desist order the city issued Food Not Bombs in late February, this did not stop over thirty people from taking part in the lunchtime picnic on Main Street, and seemed to strengthen the resolve of the group to continue serving food as usual.

Rather than dispersing when three police officers and the city Public Health Sanitarian arrived, people responded in a show of solidarity and determination to keep this community meal going.

Around 12:45 a group of twenty or so people had assembled in the shade of Liberty Commons, a familiar sight for Sundays – the Middletown chapter has been serving for twelve years. When a car pulled up with most of the food in it, people started to help unload. The meal was rice, salad, a bean and macaroni casserole, sweet potatoes, quinoa casserole, and honeydew melon and brownies for dessert – it was delicious.

A few minutes after everyone started to eat, the Public Health Sanitarian Manfred Rehm arrived. Shortly after that, a police officer showed up. He began asking, “Who’s dispensing the food?”

People answered, “All of us.” “Everybody – it’s potluck.” “It’s everybody together.” “We’re just hungry!”

“This is a potluck gathering of the community. We all just brought some food and we’re sharing it with each other.”

The police officer didn’t seem sure how to respond to this.

“Pack it up, and that’s all I’m going to say right now,” he said. “’Cause trying to give someone a ticket out here is a joke when you don’t have the right person.”

(Listen to the podcast at the top of the page for audio clips.)

The three police officers who ultimately arrived at the corner couldn’t distinguish who was a member of the group and who wasn’t, which made the finding a “guilty” party a bit difficult – and which is  evidence of the underlying philosophy of Food Not Bombs. Food Not Bombs is a free community meal that anyone is invited to eat, no questions asked. Each chapter is autonomous, but they share a common belief that food is a basic human right and that wasted and surplus food should be shared with people, not discarded. Almost all of the food that Middletown Food Not Bombs prepares is surplus produce from a local co-op, and the meals are vegan or vegetarian.

The Public Health Sanitarian soon had pointed out two individuals to the police: Wesleyan student Michele Markowitz and Fred Carroll, who had been sweeping the sidewalk as part of his Brooms Not Bombs initiative (alternately called Bums with Brooms.) Carroll had spoken out in support of Food Not Bombs at a public hearing and had been therefore identified at an involved party.  Both received tickets for disobeying the cease and desist order that the city gave Food Not Bombs two months ago for not cooking in a licensed kitchen.

Despite the tickets this Sunday, the group is determined to serve food next week as always. Local community members who help and eat with Food Not Bombs expressed their determination to keep Food Not Bombs going despite the city’s roadblocks. The police officer’s order to stop serving went unnoticed and unheeded because it was impossible to actually enforce. It’s not illegal to eat Food Not Bombs food and people were serving themselves. The police ended up standing around for a while conferring with the Sanitarian before ticketing Carrol and Markowitz.

A community member remarked on this fact. “That’s why the cops are still here. Ain’t nobody moving. The Health Department man, he’s gonna get tired. He’s gonna get tired because we ain’t gonna stop!”

For more on this story, check out Ed McKeon’s article at Middletown Eye. Also, to learn more of the background to this cease and desist order, listen to this recent HIMC podcast.

I was struck by these students as they took part in our discussion, which covered issues of poverty, homelessness, hunger, and the problems inherent in a capitalist society. I found that these students, who ranged in age from around 13 to 17, had a pretty sophisticated awareness of things. For example, the youngest of the group at one point made a concession to the media’s influence on her thinking and presented an even-headed reason as to why people get trapped in poverty.

I guess it was not so much the answers themselves, but also the open-minded and thoughtful way that they approached new ideas that impressed me. The questions they raised about decision-making in a way that does not promote majority rule, for instance, were really valid points; so were their questions about how representation in an anarchist system would be different than representation in the system we have now.

Anyway that is just my piece of commentary for today – I’m feeling optimistic about the possibilities of education. Having a small discussion like this was really cool. And I was wondering do you feel like kids these days have a more sophisticated understanding of things these days? I for one feel like these three kids knew a whole lot more than I did at that age.