(Food Not Bombs volunteer, Wesleyan student Abe Bobman)Every week Wesleyan student activists from the national organization Food Not Bombs prepare an all-vegetarian meal from food donated by local restaurants and markets to serve as a free communal meal on the corner of Main and Liberty Street.
"We don't dispense food in the way that some might think," said Abe Bobman, student Food Not Bombs leaders as a meal was being served Sunday. "We feel it's important so that food does not go to waste, and so that hungry people get the food they need. It's a meal we enjoy together. We're not a soup kitchen or a restaurant."
While City of Middletown health enforcement officer Sal Nesci admires the dual purpose of saving food and serving the hungry, he argues that for public health reasons, municipal, state and federal health regulations cannot be ignored. Last fall the City of Middletown Health Department began raising the meals as an issue, and the group received a formal cease and desist order in February of this year, through a former leader and Wesleyan grad, Jean Pocknus, who no longer lives in the area. She forwarded the order to current Food Not Bomb volunteers who were told by the city that they were serving food in an improper manner.
Nesci was surprised to find that the student group was still serving food.
"Their overall goals are admirable. I appreciate what they're doing," Nesci said in a phone interview Monday. "But they're not doing it in an approved manner, and that's a problem."
Nesci explained that the city Health Department has jurisdiction over all food served to the public, and that all restaurants, food vendors, public kitchens and soup kitchens must be licensed and certified.
"They are getting food from markets and restaurants who have deemed that the food is not appropriate to serve to their customers. They are preparing the meal in their apartments and dorm rooms, and while they may be clean, we have no idea about the conditions in which they are being prepared," Nesci explained. "So the food preparation is unlicensed. The food transport is unlicensed, and the food distribution is unlicensed."
Middletown Food Not Bombs is appealing the cease and desist order with the help of the Hartford chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. In the meantime, they continue to serve their vegetarian fare outside of the Buttonwood Tree every Sunday.
Vern, a local man who is currently homeless, and was one of a crowd of about 25, was enjoying the fruit salad and a hearty bean and barley stew.
"They feed a lot of homeless people," Vern said between mouthfuls. "They give you healthy food so that hungry people don't have to go out and steal."
Dottie and Barry Teneyck, Middletown residents who regularly stop on Sunday to share a meal see it as an opportunity to connect with the community.
"It's a benign process," Dottie Teneyck said. "And it's something that helps people while it strengthens the community."
"One Sunday we sat down at a local restaurant and felt that we were sitting among blank people and we had no communion with them," Barry Teneyck explained. "So the next Sunday we came out here and felt like we were part of a community. It makes the community visible."
When asked about the city cease and desist order, Dottie Teneyck said she understood the city's concern that food be safe and healthy, she thought the order stepped over the boundary of good sense.
"I remember going to the Wesleyan graduation last year and hearing Barack Obama talk about the need for a commitment to service in this country," she said. "Here we have Wesleyan students engaging in meaningful service, and the city discourages it. It need not be punitive.""Were just trying to help the kids get this on track, so they can do it properly," Nesci indicated. He said that he is willing to connect the students with willing facilities and individuals who are certified so that the distribution of the Food Not Bombs meals can be done in an approved manner.
"We'll issue them a license," Nesci explained. "Free of charge, just like any other non-profit organization."
"It's about action," Wesleyan freshman Hanh Lee, who helped out Sunday explained. "Lots of students on campus feel strongly about getting involved, and don't have an outlet. This is an outlet for us to act upon our emotions. We're helping people who need food, learning to cook, getting together with interesting people to prepare a meal, eating it together and having fun."
"This is about food security," Bobman said. "With so many people in Connecticut unsure about where they are going to get their meals. With so many new groups of people experiencing food insecurity, and especially so many people in Middletown, we feel that something as small as this effort doesn't require the attention of the health department."
For those who would like to get involved by donating food, preparing food, or simply joining in a Food Not Bombs meal, Middletown Food Not Bombs can be contacted at fnbmiddletown@lists.riseup.net.
The Wesleyan Students are not helping the homeless. They are in it for short-term feel good activity, done in a reckless manner.
ReplyDeleteIf people were starving in Middletown, then they would have a case. But people are not starving because Middletown has a comprehensive safety net that addresses shot-term hunger needs. Are these student providing additional services or referrals to get these people a long term solution to their hunger needs. No they aren't.
Now they've used the Health Department, who wanted to work with these students to begin with, as a means for publicity.
These students don't care about Middletown.
Middletown Eye get the full story.
Typical Wesleyan Student bubble mentality. Don't follow the rules, just do whatever you want regardless of the consequences, so long as they feel good about themselves. Why don't the do some good, like stop trashing this town with their plastic cups from keg parties every weekend.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, these Wesleyan students have been offering these meals for more than two years. And they seem to be committed to continuing their effort.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, no one is starving in Middletown. But many are hungry. I talked to some myself yesterday.
To mock the sincere effort of some students is the most cynical townie self-satisfaction I've ever heard. To do it anonymously is worse.
I regret that I didn't print the fact that each student I talked to understands the need to serve healthy food in a healthy way. That they don't have a clear grasp of the bureaucracy is understandable. Most full-time residents don't either.
Hopefully, through the sincere efforts of the students, and the health department, they'll work it out. And Middletown will be better for the dialogue.
If this is okay Wesleyan Students to serve food to the public, then it is also not a crime for Peanut Corporation of America to sell tainted peanut butter to public schools or for chinese milk companies to sell milk products to the United States.
ReplyDeleteNot sure of the logic on that one. Those other things did happen with laws and the FDA in place.
ReplyDeleteIs it just the location of this meal that is the problem?Obviously, we can invite 100 people over for dinner in our back yard and the health department does not come and intervene? We can and have held a potluck in a park and invited neighbors passing by to join in without creating a health department issue. Should we too cease and desist this practice?
ReplyDeleteI do hope the health department and these well intended Wes U students manage to find a solution that meets everyones needs.
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ReplyDeletethe kids serving food not bombs are not the same kids trashing the town. we dont like the trashing the town kids. we're just trying to feed people.
ReplyDeleteI'm a volunteer with the Middletown Food Not Bombs group, and I thought I'd say a few things from my perspective.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, our group has a whole lot of Wesleyan students that participate, but also members of the community not affiliated with Wesleyan. The group itself was started by residents of Middletown that didn't go to Wesleyan.
What we do each week is share a humble meal for folks who may be in need prepared by folks with the willingness to get the food together. Why do we need the regulation of the city if we've been really successful and completely sanitary thus far? Like a previous post says, should all gatherings of people around food be regulated by the health department?
Here in Connecticut, the amount of homeless people rose from 3,325 in 2007 to 4,366 in 2008 according to the CT Coaltion to End Homelessness. In Middlesex county, the 2008 Point in Time survey found over 200 people homeless. More than 2,000 households made use of the Amazing Grace Food pantry last year. Food insecurity is a reality in Middletown, and doesn't just effect the homeless either.
It's good to see that people are willing to engage in a discussion about this issue, and I thank Ed for exposing the situation to the Middletown community.