Think of "food terrorism" and what do you see? Diabolical plots to taint items on grocery-store shelves?Eeeeek!
If you are Buddy Dyer, the mayor of Orlando, Florida, you might be thinking of a group feeding the homeless and hungry in one of your city parks. That is what Dyer is widely quoted as calling the activists with the Orlando chapter of Food Not Bombs – "food terrorists".Oh, really? What, the state goons of the Florida Police dept are prowling parks, slapping the cuffs on citizens sharing their last sandwich with a bum?
Say it ain’t so!
Well, it ain’t:
Food Not Bombs is an international, grassroots organisation that fights hunger. As the name implies, it is against war. Its website homepage reads: "Food Not Bombs shares free vegan and vegetarian meals with the hungry in over 1,000 cities around the world to protest war, poverty and the destruction of the environment. With over a billion people going hungry each day, how can we spend another dollar on war?"So, it’s a political activist group feeding the homeless (and feckless) as a stunt. And they’d be able to do even that, if they merely complied with the rules:
At issue is a city law, the "Large Group Feeding" ordinance, which requires groups to obtain a permit to serve food, even for free, to groups of 25 or more. Such permits are granted to any group only twice per year. Orlando Food Not Bombs has already used both of its allowed permits this year.Oh, dear, too bad, so sad…
One of the most famous songs at Disney World, not far from Lake Eola Park, is called "It's a Small World". Its refrain: "There's so much that we share/that it's time we're aware/it's a small world after all." Let's turn fantasy into reality. Sharing food should not be a crime.It’s not. If you get a permit. Or do you think the rules shouldn't apply to you, because you're doing it for 'a good cause'?
15 comments:
I used to watch Amy on 'Democracy Now!' to learn more about US political affairs - but realised that she presented one-sided, emotive, sensationalist reports about the iniquities of the Republicans.
Being a CiF correspondent will be ideal for her.
Because, like crocodiles, the homeless only need to feed twice a year? This is presumably the abuse of some public barbeque law that wasn't intended to control soup kitchens.
We don't need no steekin' permits!
Its an outrage I tell ya!, how dare them do gooders give out free food to hungry folks, and without permission from their masters and betters too, cheeky bastards!
Folk like that should be flogged, that`ll show em to give up their time and energy filling the bellies of feckless wastes of oxygen, dont they know there`s wars to fight, people to kill, and what about the bankers, they need more money, they should spend their efforts helping them the selfish bastards.
People who ignore the rules written by their betters and go around helping folks out make me puke!, there should be permits for everything and not many of em either.
If the rules are stupid then we SHOULD ignore them. Best way to get the rules revised to be less stupid.
The last person who offered me a vegetarian meal got told that if I'd wanted to eat that sort of crap, I'd probably also want to be shaggin' me lugs off .. and digging tunnels in her back garden ..
She hasn't spoken to me since .. Oh dear, How sad, Never mind .. ;)
"At issue is a city law, the "Large Group Feeding" ordinance,"
Does kinda tell you all you need to know about the Ameritards doesn't it?
Although I believe a council in London (or was it Westminster?) is hankering for a similar law? There was something on Radio 4 about them being upset about people handing out sandwiches to the homeless?
No sympathy with the 'Right Ons' handing out politically correct but 'vegan' snacks (which are by definition unhealthy) though. It's just a publicity campaign.
What RTS said.
As an aside virtually any social change organisation in the states can be classed as a terrorist group so reading this does not surprise me at all. The state does not like people assisting others, we all must be dependant on it and not ourselves or other humans.
PS, I am not a veggie, socialist or treehugger.
Well call me a cynic, but to my mind the ulterior motive behind this particular ordinance is similar to the "Don't feed the pigeons" thing discussed earlier.
Don't feed the vermin as it only encourages them, their number will begin to swell and we'll be waist deep in shite before you know it.
Wont someone just think of the chil...er property values?
"It’s not. If you get a permit."
Hilarious.
Are you actually agreeing that feeding people should be a privilege? And that once you 'abuse' that 'privilege' the loving, caring and all-knowing state should stamp on you? Should send it's enforcers round to employ violence against you?
Wow.
I think you're going to have to join Miss Raccoon in the "pretends to be liberal" section of my RSS reader.
Extraordinary.
Some family parties are as big as that - well, they are in my family, anyway.
So we can only have three parties a year, and even then only with the State's permission and some sort of stupid piece of paper (which - natch - has to be paid for)?
And this is allegedly the Land of the Free?
Have they heard of the sex and travel option, do you think?
Wot RTS and Shinar's Basket Case said. They may be a bunch of self-righteous vego wankers, but needing to seek permission from some local government prick is just ridiculous. The worst part of it is that it prompts me to take the side of a bunch of self-righteous vego wankers when I'd much rather be slagging them off, if not catapulting bacon at them.
FFS why don't they just say they are a new organisation called 'Fuck the government' and give out the food. If of course that is the sole intent.
If not then this media exposure isn't going to change any laws at all. They would rather the poor died than some of their stupid laws are ignored.
This is the sort of petty and stupid rules that you expect from lawmakers that don't have anything constructive to do.
"Because, like crocodiles, the homeless only need to feed twice a year?"
It says each organisation can have two permits per year; get another five organisations doing this, and that's a feeding a month...
"...how dare them do gooders give out free food to hungry folks, and without permission from their masters and betters too..."
Well, as Budvar points out, it's more a case of ensuring that hungry bums and tramps don't hang around public parks where families want to bring their children...
"Although I believe a council in London (or was it Westminster?) is hankering for a similar law? There was something on Radio 4 about them being upset about people handing out sandwiches to the homeless?"
Yes, and for the same reason as Florida, I suspect.
"Hilarious.
Are you actually agreeing that feeding people should be a privilege?"
No, I think that there are plenty of services providing help and shelter; some people prefer not to accept it, preferring a life on the streets.
That's their privilege, but others would like to play in parks or walk the streets unharassed by beggars and panhandlers. That's OUR choice.
"And this is allegedly the Land of the Free?"
Freedom doesn't mean the authorities should sit back and do nothing while anarchy reigns.
" The worst part of it is that it prompts me to take the side of a bunch of self-righteous vego wankers when I'd much rather be slagging them off, if not catapulting bacon at them."
It doesn't prompt me to do that, strangely; maybe because we have a seasonal beggar problem in Southend.
"This is the sort of petty and stupid rules that you expect from lawmakers that don't have anything constructive to do."
More likely it's been requested by the families that would like to use the Florida parks unmolested by tramps?
... it's more a case of ensuring that hungry bums and tramps don't hang around public parks where families want to bring their children...
They're not eating the children, surely? Seriously, it's public land and unfortunately the public includes Dave the Drop Out as well as Mr and Mrs Premise and their 2.4 children. If Dave harasses the Premises that's one thing, but if all he's doing is sitting there with a poorly spelled sign I can't see why he shouldn't be there, bipedal eyesore though he might be. Nor is it likely he'll beg for food from Mr and Mrs Premise (or try to eat the 0.4 child) if they're lucky enough to have come on a day when a bunch of lentil-munchers are handing out free tofu and mung beans to Dave and his fellows.
Freedom doesn't mean the authorities should sit back and do nothing while anarchy reigns.
Mate, I'd have said that's precisely what it means (carefully noting the use of the word 'anarchy' rather than 'chaos' ;-) ). If there's no victim then there is, or at least should be, no crime, and while beggars and tramps can be a sight if they're not actually doing any harm I don't see the problem. Yes, if they're going around intimidating people, stealing or being a positive nuisance (as opposed to a passive one) then they should be made to stop, but there are already laws to cover that. What do we gain by a regulation demanding that form DF019 (part b) Application for Temporary Permission to Feed the Derros be completed in advance alongside the Occ Health & Safety assessment by a senior lesbian vegetarian representative?
I'd say the answer is 'nothing whatsoever'. Does it round the derros up and cart them away out of sight? Nope. Does it pull even just one cop away from his comfy speed trap roost and put him in the parks with instructions to make sure they don't cross the line? Nope. Does it in fact do anything at all other than generate work for yet another over-compensated, chair polishing, local authority prick? I'd say no, it doesn't.
... we have a seasonal beggar problem in Southend.
Lots of places do. The question you should ask is whether they all have, like Florida, a form DF019 (part b) Application for Temporary Permission to Feed the Derros or whatever it's really called, and whether it makes a difference. If places that do have it still have the same problem as the places that don't - and I'd bet that that's the case - then what use is it?
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