REPORT ON ORLANDO FOOD NOT BOMBS AUG. 16th SHARING
REPORT ON ORLANDO FOOD NOT BOMBS AUG. 16th SHARING
Orlando Food Not Bombs held its fourth regular sharing since the passage of Orlando's "large group feedings" ordinance on Wed., Aug. 16. As we did last week (Aug. 9) we served our food from the hood of a car parked near the corner of Osceola and Pine streets, one block away from the picnic area at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando where we had been sharing until the ordinance was passed. This time we shared in front of a yard rather than the front of the Sanctuary Downtown condominium complex as we had done last week. Our menu included juice, granola bars, bread (bagels, rolls and specialty breads), vegetable stew with rice, salad and apple crisp. Some people sat by the sidewalk to eat while others took their food into the park to enjoy the picnic area.
Our sharing, which lasted about one hour, was without incident. We observed one marked Orlando Police Department patrol car, which watched us briefly before driving away, along with one unmarked police vehicle (black with tinted windows) which we noticed driving past us a few times. Several people, including the president of the Central Florida ACLU, a law professor, members of the Central Florida chapter of Students for a Democratic Society and members of S.T.O.P. (Stop the Ordinance Partnership) came out to show their support. Orlando Food Not Bombs met after the sharing.
Two local television stations sent videographers while the Orlando Sentinel sent a reporter and a photographer; WDBO-AM (580) also sent a reporter.
Orlando Food Not Bombs will return to the Lake Eola area next week to share more hot, nutricious and tasty vegan food with hungry people as part of our opposition to poverty, homelessness, inequality, violence and other social ills. Undoubtedly, the City of Orlando would prefer that neither we nor any other group share food in the downtown area, but Orlando Food Not Bombs is not going to be deterred from fighting hunger and reclaiming public space and the downtown streets for everyone, not just people with money.
