Food Not Bombs is a national organization that distributes free food to the growing armies of hungry Americans from coast to coast. While you would think that the government would support such a noble cause, Food Not Bombs food-givers face regular arrest and possible jail time for distributing food to the very hungry, a growing number of children and veterans among them.
DB: It's good to have you with us Keith. First tell us your response to the election. It's been a hard year for Food Not Bombs, and people have been hungrier than ever. More people hungry. Give us your thoughts on this day after election brings the extreme right into power.
KM: Well, you know, sadly, the Democrats, leading up to this, a lot of Democratic mayors and leaders, including Nancy Pelosi and Feinstein have been actually against Food Not Bombs, and against feeding the hungry. And some of our most liberal governments, and democratic governments have passed laws against the sharing of free food in public, including Philadelphia, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando. And these are supposedly the bastions of liberalness in these areas.
But on the other hand, having the Republicans sweep the Senate and the House and many other state legislatures, it looks like things like, cuts in food stamps will be on the increase, more cuts in education...cuts in the very things that keep people out of poverty, or help people that are living in poverty. So I would say that the elections will mark an increase in homelessness, poverty, and in wars, unfortunately, that seems to be the direction it's going.
DB: Remind us Keith, remind us what Food Not Bombs does specifically and then talk about some of the encounters, some of the struggles that you face as you continue to try and give free food to hungry people, and the folks who work with you keep getting attacked for it.
KM: Yeah, there seems to be, in the last several years, particularly since 2007, but it's escalating. They're and...I think after Occupy this even grew even more dramatic. There's a policy nationwide to limit or ban the sharing of free food outside in public, and a lot of it is definitely directed at Food Not Bombs. Although, sadly, even the now church groups and so on, are being roped into this. Anybody sharing free meals outside in public in the United States face laws that will restrict them and make it illegal.
This just happened in Orlando where they made...I mean in Fort Lauderdale where they made the law that restricts the sharing of free food in public within 500 feet of a residence, and 500 feet of somebody else providing food if you could even find a place. And it essentially, from what local activists are reporting, bans the sharing of free food outside.
And yet there's this huge increase of homeless people in the south Florida region who are seeking food. And there's a huge increase in...just in poverty alone. So it's not just the people coming to Food Not Bombs, and these other meal programs are all homeless, although many are, which is really tragic. There the families that are working in the communities who are going to be affected even more intensely by the cuts that are probably going to come down with a Mitch McConnell Senate, in the next two years.
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