Food Not Bombs Feeding Tucson : AZ IMC

Well, they were a little late, but the food was worth the wait. The weekly Food Not Bombs picnic managed to last for a little over an hour, before two uniformed police officers dispersed people, on dubious authority in the matter. We noticed that the Purple People, 5 in all, took quite an interest in the eating habits of people eating on public land. They went so far as to coordinate surveilance, via a snazzy looking video camera with an undercover police officer. I'll post all these folks' pictures later tonight. There were 80 people in all, give or take 10. The food was fresh, hot, vegan, and delicious.

I talked to one fellow picnic patron, named Dutch. Dutch is 65, he rolls around in a wheelchair. He and his family are living in a tunnel (illegally I suppose). He suffers from a degenerative nerve disorder called MS, or Multiple Sclerosis. He seemed hopeful that he would be able to get his family out of the tunnel sometime this week.

My friend Jesse said he was riding by, out on a mission to purchase a cookie. He said that the Food Not Bombs picnic was a nice, unexpected snack. When I told him that T.P.D. frowns on Food Not Bombs picnics, he had this to say; "Fuckin' assholes! Can't eat without a permit. Can't give away food without a permit."

The man, I believe to be a plain clothes police officer actually approached me. He grabbed my nifty Arizona Independent Media Center Press Pass, and said, while he scrutinized it, "Hey, is it okay if I take a look at this? I just want to see where you're from." I asked him who he was. He told me, "I just live downtown." I took the friendly citizen's picture, and he curiously raised his hand to cover the camera. That, unfortunately didn't work for him, I was happy to note, by looking at the LCD screen. He leaned close to me and said, "You know it's illegal to do the food thing. Just so you know." I asked him if he was from the Health Department. He just repeated that picnics are illegal (so watch out folks!!). I asked him if he was from the Health Department again. He appeared to become frustrated with this, and headed off toward the Library. He said, "I'll just go talk to the library and see if you have a permit for this, if you want to be like that." He was around for the rest of the hour long picnic, stewing in his hunger. I noticed that he talked to the two police officers after the picnic had been served and protected, and he spent most of his time trying to be inconspicuous, and talking into a cell phone/walkie-talkie, and talking to the Purple People. He was very bald and rather overweight.

The two police officers were named P. Tosca, a male bike cop, and J. Earnst, a female car cop. They had a lengthy discussion with the Food Not Bombs folks, and their many friends. J. Earnst was heard to mutter, "One of those days, huh?"

Join us again next week, and check back for the comprehensive video and photo coverage of this Tucson news event.

The picnic event today was just another attempt at hiding the unfortunately hungry people and in some way legitimizing that throwing away food is better than feeding it to people by the notorious Tucson Police Department. It was also very interesting to see that when the IMC reporters went for a quick recon stroll the police seemed to appear out of the woodwork and were quite apprehensive after they had digital video cameras, and digital still photo cameras in their faces. For next week we need a larger turnout of people just willing to act as observers and to kick back and have fun until the TPD continue their "war on eating" and their "war on being human"!

why don't we get the situation with FNB out there. like call up local news stations and say, "hey, we're willing to feed the poor and homeless, but TPD wants to ignore our homelessness problem in the united states, and let people starve." or something like that..

I used to live in Arizona, and I ran into food not bombs once I decided to move back to California. I have to say that it is one of the best groups that I have seen, and I am amazed by the determination and true devotion that the food not bombs people put forth out here.

I can see that it isnt any less back in Az, and I just wanted to give my support, and tell you all how much of an impact you have. Keep up the good service. :)

Think the poster's suggestion about contacting the media is a good one.

Seems to me that Tucson FNB's primary goal should be doing what they need to do to keep feeding the hungry & homeless & not be shut down by the cops. Some thoughts about this:

Minimize conflict with the cops. Realize this isn't always under FNB control, but do what you can to avoid needlessly antagonizing them. And yeah that's unfair, but if you get shut down, who's going to feed those people. It's not about the cops. Feeding the hungry trumps ideology.

Build a broader alliance of and more diverse group of FNB workers and supporters. I mean in terms of age, gender, economic level. A wider array of folks will make it harder for the cops to marginalize and shut down FNB. I don't live in Tuscon...but have have heard from time to time from "older" folks who've felt unwelcome by younger FNB workers when they've offered assistance. Know this isn't the case everywhere...but age-ism is something to keep in mind.

Good luck to you in your efforts. Keep feeding those people.

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