HARTFORD FOOD NOT BOMBS

Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill

hartfordfnb — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:28:39 +0000

(NRDC) Food is simply too good to waste. Even the most sustainably farmed food does us no good if the food is never eaten. Getting food to our tables eats up 10 percent of the total U.S. energy budget, uses 50 percent of U.S. land, and swallows 80 percent of freshwater consumed in the United States. Yet, 40 percent of food in the United States today goes uneaten. That is more than 20 pounds of food per person every month. Not only does this mean that Americans are throwing out the equivalent of $165 billion each year, but also 25 percent of all freshwater and huge amounts of unnecessary chemicals, energy, and land. Moreover, almost all of that uneaten food ends up rotting in landfills where it accounts for almost 25 percent of U.S. methane emissions. (full story)

Officials Try To Stop Food Not Bombs On MLK Jr. Weekend

hartfordfnb — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:11:12 +0000

This is such an interesting way to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr’s weekend. Police are seeking to stop Food Not Bombs in Burlington, Vermont and Santa Cruz, California. At the same time a mission in Seattle, Washington has been told to stop sharing food in public. Food Not Bombs has been sharing near the same location in Seattle on and off for over 20 years.

(cont’d)

Please Continue to Help with the Sandy Relief Effort – Volunteers Needed All Across the Country

hartfordfnb — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:46:20 +0000

(foodnotbombs.net) We can not thank you enough for your support. It is so amazing to see so many people come together to help with Sandy Relief. This is a critical time to help as the media moves to cover other events there will be a danger that the ongoing emergency will fade. We saw this after Katrina. Please consider becoming a long term Food Not Bombs volunteer helping with our groups on Staten Island, Brooklyn, Long Island and Manhattan. Our volunteers are preparing huge amounts of food but the need is so great we could use more donations and help. There will be many hungry and cold people struggling for many more months so your help is urgently needed.

We will be moving our Brooklyn kitchen to the YWCA at 30 Third Avenue at Atlantic this Saturday and Sunday. Please meet at 9:00 AM. We need volunteers to do many tasks including cooking, driving and providing help with the clean up.

We still need spices, snacks, rice, pasta, spices peanut butter, bread, plasticware, plates, trays and baby items. We could use drivers to help collect and deliver food in every area.

If you do not live in the New York area it is best to organize benefit concerts or other fundraising events to raise money. The cost of seeking housing and driving food into the city from far away is not very efficient. It is also not easy to house people since there are already over 40,000 additional homeless people as a result of Sandy. Everyone is so touched by your willingness to leave home to help but as you can see that would not be wise at this time.

If you do not live near the area ravaged by Sandy you may want to contact your local Food Not Bombs group to find out how they are organizing in your community. Many times so much aid is diverted to major disasters like Sandy that it has a huge impact on local programs where hundreds of people are already struggling to survive. If you have trouble finding your local Food Not Bombs chapter you can email us at menu@foodnotbombs.net or call 1-800-884-1136. You are also welcome to start a Food Not Bombs chapter in your community. We have materials on line to help you start.

con’t

FNB Providing Logistical Support In Hurricane Sandy Aftermath

hartfordfnb — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 00:08:23 +0000

You can help Food Not Bombs provide food and logistical support for the survivors of Sandy.

(foodnotbombs.net) Help us cook at 9:00 AM Wednesday to Friday at:

Park Slope Community Church
251- 12th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215-3919
Saturday and Sunday November 10th and 11th we will be cooking at the YWCA at 3rd Avenue and Atlantic at 9:00 AM

Long Island
Contact: veganarchafeminist@gmail.com or phone 516-668-2116 Or for more information visit www.lifnb.com/

Staten Island Food Not Bombs chapter. Tompkinsville Park – Bay Street, near Victory Blvd. Please call 646-474-4713 for exact location.

facebook.com/FoodNotBombsStatenIsland

WE STILL NEED MORE KITCHENS AND VEHICLES IN THE NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY AREA. Please call 1-800-884-1136The disasters we are facing are unprecedented. Sandy is causing huge problems. We have several hundred Food Not Bombs groups in and near the area hit by Sandy. Your local Food Not Bombs group may already be providing food and logistical support and can use your help. Food Not Bombs has often been the first to provide aid after earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, heat waves, riots, forest fires, terrorist attacks, droughts, economic crisis and other disasters. Our volunteers were first to provide food after the 1989 San Francisco Earthquake, Hurricane Katrina, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the 2008 economic collapse. We are also often the last to end our relief efforts. The American Red Cross asked those seeking relief after the 1989 San Francisco Earthquake and Katrina to call our toll free number 1-800-84-1136 for food and logistical support. We have made a point to have this number staffed in person which is important in the event of a crisis since people may not be able to have access to electricity and need immediate support. The need for emergency disaster relief is increasing with more extreme weather devastates communities and the economic crisis grows more dire. As a result your support is needed more then ever. We not only need financial support but we need volunteers to help collect food. We also need vehicles, tools, cooking equipment, communications equipment and medical professionals.

More info here:

Really, Really Free Market

hartfordfnb — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:18:44 +0000

(Hartford) On Saturday July 14th, Join us at the Charter Oak Cultural Center from 2-6 During Indiefest @ the Oak

The Really Really Free Market is like a bizarre bazaar where everything is free. You bring useful items to give away to people who want them or, conversely you take useful items that you want that people are freely giving away…simple really…really simple. No money is exchanged. This will be held in the courtyard of the Charter Oak Cultural Center.

The Really Really Free Market IS NOT a place to bring unwanted items. If you bring an item and no one else wants it, it is still yours. You must take it with you at the end of the day. The idea is to help those in need, not to burden others.

This will be going hand in hand with the Indiefest @ the Oak. There will be acoustical musical performances for your listening enjoyment while you peruse the items. Later in the evening there will be electrical performances in the upstairs gallery. Food will be provided by Hartford Food Not Bombs. http://hartfordfoodnotbombs.org/

To reserve space to display your wares, or for more information contact reallyreallyfreect@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/events/371413172922569/

Anarchy is Boring

hartfordfnb — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:53:53 +0000

(The Stranger) The first self-described anarchist I ever met was a Greek medical technician sticking electrodes to my scalp. I was around 14 at the time, and I’d had a seizure in my parents’ driveway a few days earlier. The doctors wanted to test me for epilepsy, which involved using electrodes to read my brain’s electrical activity while a strobe light flashed in my face.

Somehow, the technician and I started talking about Henry David Thoreau, and he said he admired Thoreau’s anarchist ethics. I said I didn’t know what that meant. As I recall, he explained it roughly like this: There is an inherent tension between autonomy and authority, and authority structures do not hold legitimate moral power over individuals who haven’t helped to create that structure and consented to live by its rules.

I had trouble wrapping my head around that one.

He asked if I had any vote in choosing my school principal. I hadn’t. Well, he explained cheerfully while sticking electrodes to my head, if you’re living by Thoreau’s anarchist principles, you have no ethical duty to obey him. (continue)

April 1st National Day of Action to Support FNB!

hartfordfnb — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:52:51 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

CONTACT:
Keith McHenry
575-770-3377
menu@foodnotbombs.net
www.foodnotbombs.net/food_is_a_right.html

Kathy Mitro
386-795-9643
kathymitro@yahoo.com

FOOD IS A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE

Sharing food with the hungry is an unregulated act of kindness.
End all efforts to stop people from feeding the hungry.
Rescind all laws restricting compassion.

“THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY TO GIVE OUT FOOD, THERE IS ONLY GIVING OUT ALL THE FOOD YOU CAN”
- Kathy Mitro who posted a petition on line after being threatened with arrest for sharing food in Daytona Beach. Florida in January 2012

On Sunday April 1st, we are proposing that people all over the world consider sharing free meals in celebration our right to food and participate in our campaign for an end to laws restricting acts of compassion. Celebrate our right to feed the hungry with music, theater, and the sharing of food.

It has been distressing to receive so many reports in the past few weeks of people being threatened with arrest or cities adopting new laws limiting people’s right to share free food with the public. People in England, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Florida contacted Food Not Bombs about having been threatened with arrest. Others report that their local governments are considering laws to limit acts of compassion.

This new wave of threats is happening as half of all Americans are struggling to survive. The Department of Agriculture’s February report shows that 46,286,294 people relied on food stamps in November of 2011. People have been arriving at Food Not Bombs meals claiming they had not eaten in four days because other food programs had exhausted their resources. The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 1 in 7 people or 925 million people world wide went hungry in 2010. We are announcing a global campaign to recognize that sharing food with the hungry is an unregulated activity of compassion and should not be interfered with by the authorities.

Our movement started when the “Diggers” occupied St George’s Hill in Surrey, England on April 1, 1649 in a protest for the right of landless people to feed themselves. We are announcing our global campaign for the right of all people to share food with the hungry without regulation on the anniversary of the first act of the peaceful resistance by the “Diggers” of St George’s Hill.

The public is encouraged to share meals with their community on Sunday, April 1, 2012 in defiance of government’s efforts to restrict acts of compassion. Please email our office so we can post your event on our website.

FOOD IS A RIGHT NOT A PRIVILEGE – End all efforts to stop people from feeding the hungry
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/food_is_a_right.html

FOOD IS A RIGHT NOT A PRIVILEGE – End all efforts to stop people from feeding the hungry onblog.foodnotbombs.net
http://blog.foodnotbombs.net/food-is-a-right-not-a-privilege-end-all-efforts-to-stop-people-from-feeding-the-hungry/

ENDORSED BY

Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed
Noam Chomsky, author and professor M.I.T.
Eric Holt-Giménez, Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy
Bill McKibben, author Deep Economy
David Barsamian, founder and director of Alternative Radio
David Rovics,musician, USA
Kevin Devine, musician, Brooklyn, NY
Kathy Kelly, Co-coordinator, Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Michael Stoops, National Coalition for the Homeless
Kathy Mitro, Daytona Beach. Florida
Keith McHenry, Co-founder of the Food Not Bombs Movement

###

PLEASE ENDORSE THIS CAMPAIGN
Please consider endorsing this nonviolent campaign. Email us you name, position and city or if your group is endorsing the name of your organization and city. Seek to overturn all local laws restricting the sharing of food.
Thanks so much.

menu@foodnotbombs.net

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The current cities actively seeking to restrict the sharing of food are Los Angeles, Daytona Beach,Tampa, St Petersburg, Dallas, Myrtle Beach, Philadelphia.

A PLACE AT THE TABLE
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/A_Place_at_the_Table.pdf

Food is a Right Jean Ziegler
http://www.righttofood.org/

Hunger Is a ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction’, says Jean Ziegler
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Hunger-Is-a-Weapon-of-Mas-by-Siv-O-Neall-120120-44.html

SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: NUMBER OF PERSONS PARTICIPATING
http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/29snapcurrpp.htm

2012 World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics Food and Agriculture Organization
http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world 20hunger facts 202002.htm

Anti-Poverty Groups Alarmed At Obama Budget
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133756360/Anti-Poverty-Groups-Alarmed-At-Obama-Budget

PETITIONS
If you have been threatened with arrest for sharing food please contact us.menu@foodnotbombs.net
Speaker of the House: Change the laws that criminalize sharing food with
hungry individuals
http://www.change.org/petitions/the-president-of-the-united-states-change-the-laws-that-criminalize-sharing-food-with-hungry-individuals

Allow Food Not Bombs Myrtle Beach to Feed the
Hungry
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/allow-food-not-bombs-myrtle-beach-to-feed-people/

The City of Dallas: Stop
threatening people for feeding the homeless
http://www.change.org/petitions/the-city-of-dallas-stop-threatening-people-for-feeding-the-homeless

NEW REPORTS ON EFFORTS TO LIMIT THE SHARING OF MEALS

PHILADELPHIA
Philadelphia may start requiring permits for those who feed the homeless
February 10, 2012
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/health-science-multimedia/item/33820-philadelphia-may-start-requiring-permits-for-those-who-feed-the-homeless

Proposed rules for feeding homeless on Parkway assailed February 9, 2012
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/139063949.html

Proposed rules for feeding homeless on Parkway assailed
http://articles.philly.com/2012-02-09/news/31042407_1_regulation-bad-policy-shelters

Ronnie Polaneczky: Dinner for the homeless, with a side of dignity
http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/ronnie_polaneczky/20120214_Ronnie_Polaneczky__Dinner_for_the_homeless__with_a_side_of_dignity.html

Let Donald F. Schwarz, know there should be no restrictions to the sharing of food in Philadelphia

Donald F. Schwarz, MD, MPH
Deputy Mayor for Health and Opportunity and
Health Commissioner
1401 JFK Blvd, Room 600
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Telephone: 215-686-5000
Fax: 215-686-5212
healthdept@phila.gov

MYRTLE BEACH

WMBF Special Report: Homeless Bound
http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/10779717/wmbf-special-report-homeless-bound

Myrtle Beach Deals With Homeless, Or Do They?
http://www.nowpublic.com/health/myrtle-beach-deals-homeless-or-do-they

Please Don’t Feed Our Homeless, Many Cities Say
http://news.change.org/stories/please-dont-feed-our-homeless-many-cities-say

DETAILS ON THE DIGGERS

Our movement started when the “Diggers” occupied St George’s Hill in Surrey, England on April 1, 1649 in a protest for the right of landless people to feed themselves. Consider preforming the World Turned Upside Down at your meal on April 1, 2012.

The English Diggers
http://www.diggers.org/english_diggers.htm

‪The World Turned Upside Down – The Diggers – Leon Rosselson‬ text
http://www.diggers.org/english_diggers.htm#worl

‪The World Turned Upside Down – The Diggers – Leon Rosselson‬ music video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=594JpY2ahFg

GET INVOLVED, PASS THE NEWS, CONTACT YOUR LOCAL MEDIA AND ORGANIZE AN ACTION IN YOUR COMMUNITY.

PRINT OUT FLYER
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/food is a right day of compassion flyer.pdf

PRINT OUT FLYER ANNOUNCING THE TIME AND LOCATION OF YOUR CELEBRATION
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/food is a right diggers
flyer.pdf

PRINT OUT A SAMPLE COPY OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS TO SHARE FOOD
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/Bill of Rights to Share Food.pdf

FOOD IS A RIGHT NOT A PRIVILEGE – End all efforts to stop people from feeding the hungry
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/food_is_a_right.html

You can invite the Cooking for the Occupations – ELECT TO END HUNGER AND POVERTY TOUR to visit you community. A presentation on the occupations and the global effort against economic austerity!
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/speaker.html

We try to make every effort to remove all unwanted email addresses so if you would like to be removed please email us at menu@foodnotbombs.net

Consider organizing a local celebration, contact your local media about your event and PLEASE

Food Not Bombs Video Mashup

hartfordfnb — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:25:57 +0000

THE POOR PEOPLE’S LIBERATION FRONT

hartfordfnb — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:14:45 +0000

We have had some calls and heard about a conflict on NPR about homeless people eating at the Occupations.There seems to be an attempt by the government to pit the occupations against the already homeless. One reason we are participating in the occupations is to change our world so no one becomes homeless.
In most occupations the homeless have been very welcomed by the protesters and invited to eat as the issue of our people being homeless while the 1 percent can’t even count their homes is pretty central to the reason we are sharing the outside with those already outside. It would be great if we made some effort to remind the occupations that it would be strange to keep the hungry away from the food. -Keith McHenry

THE POOR PEOPLES’ LIBERATION FRONT
OUR MISSION STATEMENT AND AIMS

1. THE PROVIDING OF FREE HOUSING THROUGH EXPROPRIATION OF UNUSED PROPERTY, BY SQUATTING (HOMESTEADING) RENOVATABLE BUILDINGS.

2.THE PROVIDING OF FREE FOOD FOR OUR COMMUNITIES THROUGH THE PEOPLE SURVIVAL PROGRAMS. ( SUCH AS FOOD NOT BOMBS; FREE BREAKFAST FOR CHILDREN; FOOD DELIVERIES TO THE ELDERLY, AND OTHER SIMILAR PROGRAMS.)

3.THE PROVIDING OF “FREE EDUCATION,” IN THE TRADITION OF FRANCISCO FERRER AND THE MODERN SCHOOL MOVEMENT; RELATING TO OUR CULTURE AND NOT THE PRO-CAPITALIST ECONOMICS AND NATIONALIST SEPARATISM TAUGHT TODAY BY THIS COUNTRY’S PRO-WAR EDUCATIONAL POWERS.

4.THE REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX AND MODERN SLAVERY.

5.THE UNCOMPROMISING DEFENSE OF OUR PEOPLE FROM ALL FORCES OF COERCIVE DOMINATION AND STRUCTURES OF POLITICAL POWER. AN ORGANIZATION OF THE POOR FOR THE POOR – WE REFUSE PARTICIPATION IN THE POLITICS OF THE AMERIKAN IMPERIALIST (OR ANY OTHER GOVERNING) EMPIRE.

WE INTIMATELY UNDERSTAND THAT POLITICAL POWER INEVITABLY CORRUPTS; AND THEREFORE, TO AVOID THE SNARES OF POLITICAL CORRUPTION – WE THOROUGHLY PLEDGE TO A LIFE OF THE PEOPLE & NOT TO THE EMPIRE; TO NEVER TAKE MEMBERSHIP IN ANY GOVERNMENT POLITICAL OFFICE.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, EMAIL US AT:
yzwx@rocketmail.com

FREEDOM FROM OUR POVERTY LIES IN OUR OWN HANDS,
AND NOT IN THE CAPITALISTS’.
RESIST WITH THE POOR PEOPLES’ LIBERATION FRONT

Winter Needs!

hartfordfnb — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:07:28 +0000

Hey folks, it’s just about that time of year. We are looking for winter coats, hats, gloves, etc…If you have anything to donate, please feel free to stop by any Sunday around 3pm @ Bushnell Park. If you can’t make it down there but would still like to donate, contact us by phone or email.