Sunday, May 03, 2009

Food Not Bombs to continue
sharing food without a license

Food Not Bombs has been cited in Middleton, Connecticut, for distributing food to the public without a license, but plans to continue sharing food despite the possibility of more citations.

Fred Carroll, one of two Food Not Bombs members cited, said he plans to plead not guilty in Superior Court in Middletown. "The worst-case scenario is I'll have to pay $100," he said.

Police ticketed Carroll after a city inspector observed the group's offered meal of rice, salad, a bean and macaroni casserole, sweet potatoes, quinoa casserole, and honeydew melon and brownies.

In addition, the city has issued Food Not Bombs a cease-and-desist order. The group is appealing the order.

Food Not Bombs, made up mostly of Wesleyan University students, has been sharing food with the public for about 10 years. City officials first learned about the group's activities about eight months ago when a member of the public asked whether the group was licensed.

Read the Hartford Courant report here. Check out the Hartford IMC report here. And read the blog post at The Middletown Eye here.

3 Comments:

At 8:40 AM, Blogger Cara Michele said...

It's interesting to me to hear how different cities respond to Food Not Bombs. I cook with FNB, and our city (and county) has had a very different response. On Mondays, we serve at the public library -- a City facility. We've had City Council, the Mayor, and County Commissioners as visitors, on more than one occasion. Members of various city and county agencies, including the head of the public health department, have come out and joined us. Nurses from the health department have come to do screenings. City security staff (friendly and smiling) routinely hang out with us while we eat. No one has ever suggested that we need a permit or license to serve. We've had city and county people at the community center where we cook -- no license or permit there, either, and some of them have eaten with us, at the library and the community center. I guess our town is cooler than most. I'm thankful for that. It's a good thing to feed hungry people.

 
At 9:53 AM, Anonymous HartfordFNB said...

Wow, Michele that sounds amazing. Not only are they not bothering you, they are encouraging. May I ask what state/city you are in? I wish Middletown could take a lesson from there.

 
At 11:40 AM, Blogger Jacqueline Dowd said...

Greensboro, North Carolina

 

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