As hungry residents crowded the table of fresh produce and prepared dishes like garlic-flavored chard, garlic bread, oatmeal fruit bake and peach cobbler, members of Food Not Bombs joined in the meal happy that this Sunday could be the last in which their actions are considered "illegal."
On Friday, after a concerted effort by Middletown's State Senator Paul Doyle, and Representative Matt Lesser, the legislature passed a budget implementer bill which contained an amended version of a law concerning food distributed to the public as a charity.
The new language is actually stronger than language submitted by State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. The new language, which replaces the word "seller" with the word "person" to make sure that operations like Food Not Bombs could be shut down again on a technicality.
The Connecticut Health Department attempted to strengthen the language in a way that would have kept the Food Not Bombs meal as an illegal operation, but those changes were rejected by legislators.
The implementer bill is currently on the governor's desk, and while there is a chance she may veto it because of budget differences, there is a level of confidence that the bill is acceptable and will be signed today.
On Sunday, local ministers encouraged parishioners to attend Monday's Common Council meeting where the topic of food distribution is on the agenda.
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