[HPN] ALERT: Food Not Bombs, Pittsburgh Police & Permits - USA FWD

[Tom Boland]

FWD  FNB-Pittsburgh PRESS RELEASE of February 16
     plus two related news articles
     dated February 17 & 21, 2000:

  vegetarian, nonviolence, consensus
-Food Not Bombs List     fnb-l@lists.tao.ca
-distributing food in opposition to violence
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Subject: PGH FNB IN TROUBLE WITH THE POLICE
From: fnb-l@lists.tao.ca
Date: 2000/02/16
Newsgroups: alt.org.food-not-bombs

PITTSBURGH, PA.

MARKET SQUARE THIS SUNDAY

Its important that anyone that can come to Market Square on FEB. 20TH
Sunday at 1:00pm to show support -- it's impossible to tell if the police
will show up again please distribute this message as widely as possible.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On Sunday February 13th the Pittsburgh police threatened to issue
citations to the humanitarian group Food not Bombs if they returned to
Market Square on Sunday February 20th.  Food not Bombs intends to return
to Market Square, in spite of the threats of citations and arrests, on
February 20th at 1:00pm.

Food not Bombs has for years provided free vegetarian food to the homeless
and underemployed every week in Market Square.  The group is made up of
volunteers who are spending their free time providing a social service.
In recognition of their civic duty, the city has decided to threaten and
harass the group saying that Food not Bombs does not have the right to
serve food without a permit, or to assemble and share meals in Market
Square.  Food not

Bombs would like to make the following points clear to the press, the city
government, and the public


1.  It is not a crime, in any circumstance with or without impossible to get
permits, to give food to those who would otherwise go hungry.

2.  The new super economy has missed people as is painfully obvious when
you see the number of homeless people living downtown.  The city, by
threatening to cite Food not Bombs, has expressed a ìkill the messenger
mentalityî and is simply attempting to hide the problem of homelessness.

3.  With all the talk of problem youth and youth apathy and the idea of
volunteerism being stressed again and again by political campaigners, it
would be reasonable that the members of Food not Bombs would receive
praise for what they are doing.  They are, instead, being threatened with
fines and jail time.

4.  The City of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny county governments have
expressed over and over again their desire to have young people stay or
move to the city of Pittsburgh.  If you want young people to stay in the
city you do not threaten them with citations for performing social
services that benefit the community.

5.  The City of Pittsburgh has given millions of dollars in corporate tax
cuts and plans to demolish downtown and spend millions more on creating a
shoppers paradise, and yet it cannot provide housing for the less
fortunate.

  We consider the priorities of the city to be against basic human values
and suggest that dealing with the problem of homelessness and poverty
should be placed above that of constructing corporate chain stores
available at any number of strip malls outside of the city limits.

Press Contacts: Joe Reichenbacher 681-4612 or Mark Wardle 621-2909

*****

Pittsburgh News - February 17, 2000

Official wants charity group out of Market Square

By Erik Siemers
TRIBUNE-REVIEW

  A city official said Wednesday that Food Not Bombs, a group that has
served meals to the homeless in Market Square for about five years,
should take its benevolence elsewhere.

  "We appreciate their efforts but believe there's a more appropriate
way to assist the homeless than handing out food randomly, which has a
negative impact on the local businesses in that area," mayoral
spokesman Craig Kwiecinski said.

  The difference of opinion may be coming to a head.

  Food Not Bombs member Joe Reichenbacher, 19, a student at the
University of Pittsburgh, said two policemen told the roughly dozen
volunteers serving food last Sunday that they would have to leave or
could face arrest.

  A few weeks earlier, a police officer said they may have to leave if
any businesses complain about them, said Andy Schultze, 18, of Oakland.

  When group members asked if any businesses had complained, officers
said no, Schultze said.

  Despite the warnings, Food Not Bombs plans on serving food in Market
Square on Sunday at its normal 1 p.m. starting time.

  "We're worried, but we're ready for it," Schultze said. "We're
preparing ourselves."

  Cmdr. Bill Valenta Jr., whose Zone 2 officers patrol Downtown, said
he knew nothing about it. Valenta said he would have to find out exactly
what the officers saw Sunday.

  "There are restrictions because that's a park," Valenta said. "They
could have been blocking walkways or something."

  Food Not Bombs prepares their vegetarian meals from food that would
have been thrown out by area markets, Reichenbacher said. Volunteers
have served baked tofu, to between 20 and 45 homeless each Sunday.

  Kwiecinski did not say what the negative impact on Market Square may
be. But he said that local businesses may have complained. He also said
Food Not Bombs should work through existing agencies that aid the homeless.

  Jeff Joyce, president of the Market Square Association, said he was not
aware of the situation but agreed with the mayor's spokesman.

  "We've been trying to turn (Market Square) into a viable and economic
environment," said Joyce, who owns the 1902 Landmark Tavern in Market
Square. "I think it's probably the opinion of our association that maybe
the charity things can take place elsewhere in
the city."

  Joyce said any groups wanting to hold events in Market Square need to
purchase permits from the city.

  "They've probably been doing it in this area all these years without
a permit," Joyce said.

  Schultze said he knows he and his friends are required to have a permit
and haven't gotten one. But he said he doesn't believe the law is right.

  "We just think that you really shouldn't need a permit to feed people.
Especially when you're not charging. We think it's a really ridiculous
ordinance or law."

  Schultze compared their situation to one in San Francisco last fall
where police arrested two Food Not Bombs volunteers who were feeding the
homeless.

  In that city's elections, Mayor Jerry Brown promised voters he would
cease arresting Food Not Bombs members.

  The San Francisco chapter's Web site said that more than 1,000 of
their members have been arrested over the years.

  The problem of permits isn't new for Market Square.

  In February 1996, a group of 20 students and eight adults from Mt.
Lebanon United Methodist Church were told to move because it did not
have a permit to assemble in Market Square, where they had gathered to
pass out food and clothing to the homeless.

*****

The Pitt News, 21 February 2000, A1

A criminal act of kindness

Kate Zangrilli
Staff Writer

	For Bob Bovy McFadden, Sundays are a welcome relief. Relief from
hunger. On Sundays, a city group called Food Not Bombs provides free,
multiple-course vegetarian meals to the hungry in Market Square Downtown.
Threatening citations, two policeman sent members of Food Not Bombs away
Feb. 13 on the grounds that they lacked a health permit to distribute free
meals.

	"I like all you people down here," McFadden said. "As long as the
damn cops don't get you. They were here last week, jumping all over you
people. I don't know why."

	Despite the run-in with Zone 2 police last week, the local
philanthropists returned yesterday to continue their tradition of feeding
Downtown's poor and homeless. No arrests were made, and amid a sea of
about seven media cameras, police did not issue any citations.

 	Instead, about 30 Food Not Bombs members set up coolers, a giant
bag of bagels and several bins of salad, apples, muffins and tofu
casseroles. They also arranged donated shoes and slacks for the taking.

	The Pittsburgh chapter of Food Not Bombs, an international
organization, began operating eight years ago. After organizing the food
cafeteria-style, some members began an old-style garbage-can band,
fashioning drums out of cans and buckets and tapping sticks against the
iron fence. One homeless man started dancing to their beat.

	Meanwhile, other Food Not Bombs workers distributed wrapped peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches to the hungry. For the past two years, members
have prepared the Sunday meal at the South Oakland house of Pitt senior
Jim Robinson, who joined the group as a freshman."I knew it was a good
thing, so I thought I'd lend a hand," he said. Overall, Robinson counts
about 15 Pitt students involved in the organization.

	"It's interesting that we haven't had any problems for eight
years," he said, as he linked last week's incident to the cityís plan to
redevelop the area around Fifth and Forbes avenues close to where Market
Street is located. While Robinson said he wasn't surprised at the police
action, he doesn't expect to give in.

	"[The homeless] have rights like anyone else," he said. "We're not
going to back down. This is something we believe in." The group received
e-mails from other chapters across the country, and the support has
fortified the local group's efforts, he said. The amount of media
attention the police confrontation garnered the group was unexpected.

	"We've never gotten media coverage before this," Robinson
said.Fred Price, a former homeless volunteer with Operation Save A Life,
said the media attention chased many homeless people away. Fewer than 10
homeless people came for meals yesterday. Usually, 30 to 50 attend.

	Price said homeless and marginally housed people depend on the
Food Not Bombs lunch for two reasons: food and companionship. Old friends
greet each other across the square; new friends are made in line for
water.  "They don't have any ulterior motive except to share what they
have," he said. Price fears that other organizations with a similar intent
will be targeted soon after Food Not Bombs is restricted. He cited similar
meals being served by other groups on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays.

	Representatives from the Mosque Avengers, an organization formed
in opposition to the Fifth-Forbes project; Carnegie Mellon Universityís
Student Union; the Pitt chapter of Students in Solidarity; a high-school
chapter of Amnesty International; and the Thomas Merton Center, an
social-justice organization that provides office space for grass-roots
organizations, were present to give their support.

	Vince Eirene, who owns a homeless shelter on the North Side,
blames city officials for last week's event. "The mayor's office and the
city should be ashamed of themselves. They should be encouraging people to
care for people and not make that a crime,"  he said.

	Past newspaper reports quote Mayor Tom Murphyís spokesman as
saying that the city never ordered police to issue citations to volunteers
who don't have permits to serve food. Cara Wiegand, a member of Food Not
Bombs and a student at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, said police
demanded that the organization obtain a health permit.

	"But why would we make food that we wouldn't eat ourselves?" she
asked.The food is donated by Einstein Brothers Bagels, East End Food Co-Op
and other food establishments that would otherwise throw the food away.
Wiegand questioned another concern expressed by city officials, who stated
that free food took away business from Downtown establishments. "On
Sunday, nothing's ever open. They are just trying to hide that there is a
problem with homelessness," she said.

	Food Not Bombs was founded in Boston in 1980, according to the
group's Web page. The organization is based on the principles of
nonviolence and "food recycling," taking unwanted food from restaurants
and other establishments and giving it to the homeless. There are 70
autonomous chapters. Jason Angse, a member of the Pittsburgh chapter, said
it is important to bring attention to the plight of the poor.

	"Out of sight, out of mind is what they want, and it simply does
not solve the problem. It's just wrong. We're the first beginning step to
change that," he said. Angse added, "There's a lot of food that's thrown
away and a lot of people that are hungry. ... Put those two together, and
people are not hungry; food is not wasted."

	The Web page also details the struggles of the San Francisco
chapter, which has faced censure. Since 1988, the city of San Francisco
has arrested more than 1,000 Food Not Bombs members for distributing food
without permits. Unable to find recourse in the legal system, the chapter
appealed to Amnesty International to have those sanctioned members
declared prisoners of conscience.

[the pitt news]

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