Food Not Bombs
volunteer Eric
Montanez, 21, was arrested Sunday for feeding the hungry in Orlando,
Florida, in the United States.
This past July Orlando and Las Vegas Nevada passed laws
making it illegal to feed the hungry. Other cities also tried to ban Food Not
Bombs but their efforts failed.
The City of San Francisco made over 1,000 arrests starting
on August 15, 1988, but after spending over a million dollars and failing to
stop the group, the city gave up and let Food Not Bombs continue with its work.
When the public saw you could get arrested for feeding the
hungry, people from all over the world contacted San Francisco Food Not Bombs
to see how they could start a local chapter. Today there are Food Not Bombs
groups in hundreds of cities all over the world.
The Food Not Bombs movement organized the food relief for
the survivors of Katrina, delivering the first meals to New Orleans three days
after the storm passed. Food Not Bombs activists collected food and gathered
volunteers in communities all over America and drove buses and trucks to the
Gulf Region to help.
On Januay 5, the New Orleans Food Not Bombs coordinator,
Helen Hill, was shot to death in front of her husband and child.
Food Not Bombs volunteers from all over North America will
be supporting the Orlando group. Many volunteers plan to go to Florida to help
cook and risk arrest.
The
ACLU and other organizations are also supporting Orlando Food Not Bombs. Just
as in the other cases where cities tried to stop Food Not Bombs, Orlando will
soon stop violating the rights of its people and let Food Not Bombs continue to
feed the hungry.