Food Not Bombs Hearings Continue Today

Middletown Health Department Code Enforcement Officer Sal Nesci and Sanitarian Fred Rehm testified Monday in a hearing at the State Department of Health to determine if the city was correct in its application of state statutes in ordering a cease and desist notice to Food Not Bombs.

Middletown has cited Food Not Bombs, and issued cease and desist orders indicating that the group is serving food to the public without a license. Food Not Bombs has participated in a shared meal, on public sidewalks in Middletown for nearly ten years.

Food Not Bombs insists the meal is shared, and not served, and so falls outside of the jurisdiction of state and local regulations.

Currently, Food Not Bombs continues to share its meals on the corners of Main and Liberty Streets every Sunday under a compromise which allows them to prepare the meal at First Church on Court Street.

The parties have not been able to agree on a long-term compromise to allow them to offer the shared meal to the public.

In cross examination Monday, Nesci explained that his department does not have guidelines for the interpretation of state statutes regarding licensing, but relies on the department's interpretation of the statutes. He was also unable to provide lawyers Peter Gosselin and Elizabeth Conklin, who represented Food Not Bombs at the hearing, with specific information about who made the original complaint against the group and when the original complaint was filed.

That original complaint, in November 2008 coincides with a November 18, 2008 email from New Britain health department employee Eugene Ciccone to Nesci in which Ciccone writes:

We have been dealing with a group called "Food Not Bombs." They distribute vegetarian food to homeless people free of charge. They claim to be "unregulated.'" Please let us know what experiences you have had with this group, and hiow (sic) you have insured that they comply with Health Department Food regulaitons (sic).

Nesci's reply, on the same day that "we here in Middletown just learned of their presence as well. Our group stems out of Wesleyan University." He continues, "We intend to stop this unregulated activity and forward them throu (sic) ALL the proper channels for distributing food on a city sidewalk for proper permits and fees...Health, Zoning, Police..."

While some Food Not Bombs members feel the New Britain memo has a political motivation, Attorney Gosselin could find no evidence of a vendetta.

"There's not anything in that memo that would indicate that it's concerning anything other than a health matter," Gosselin said outside the hearing room.

Nesci, and other Middletown officials have maintained that their only motivation in pursuing the matter is the health and safety of the public.

In his testimony Monday, Food Not Bombs member Abe Bobman emphasized that Food Not Bombs does not serve meals, but instead shares them.

"We're not necessarily attempting to serve, but allow people to gather and share a meal," he said. "We gather and try to provide a testament to abundance instead of scarcity, and to promote the idea that everyone has the right to eat. We're trying to level the distinctions between haves, and have-nots. We offer ideas as well as sustenance."

Bobman allowed that part of the Food Not Bombs philosophy was to demonstrate that in a country which spends so much on national defense, there are still many who go hungry, and that the shared meals attempt to point out that disparity.

After today's hearings, attorneys from both sides will offer briefs to the Health Department, who will issue a judgment on the matter.

Food Not Bombs is also suing the City of Middletown, and the Commissioner of the State Department of Health in federal court for violating their rights to free expression as expressed in the first and fourteenth amendment to the Constitution.

City Escalates Tactics Against Food Not Bombs

Middletown sanitarian Manfred Rehm confiscates prepared food from a Food Not Bombs meal.



"They took the food right out of my hands before I could get it into my mouth," Reverend Cocomo Rock of the 191914 Ministries said on Sunday at an aborted Food Not Bombs shared meal. "And then he told me he was going to throw all of it in the garbage.

Rock, who is unemployed, and who has not been able to get food stamps after applying seven weeks ago, claims the Sunday meal fills an important gap for him, and for other hungry Middletown residents.

Sunday, soon after members of the local Food Not Bombs chapter set up tables and placed pots of jambalaya, rice, beans, tofu and cake on the table as part of a meal they share with the community, the Public Health Sanitarian Manfred Rehm began photographing the activities with his cell phone. He could then be heard calling his supervisor, health department manager Sal Nesci asking for a directive.

"The press is here," Rehm was heard to say. "And they want to talk to someone.

"On the other end of the phone, Nesci could be heard clearly to say, "Tell them no comment."

Reporters from The Hartford Courant, the Middletown Press, the Wesleyan Argus and the Eye were present.

After calling in two police officers, Rehm confiscated all the prepared foods. When the members of the group asked about the pots and spoons he was taking, Rehm indicated they could pick up the cooking utensils at the Health Department on Monday.

Food Not Bombs member Abe Bobman was issued a summons to appear in court for the commission of a misdemeanor - distributing food without a license. Last week Food Not Bomb members were issued tickets.

Food Not Bombs has been sharing meals on the corner of Main and Liberty streets for ten years. A few months ago, Nesci claims that the city received a complaint, and was forced to issue a cease and desist against the group for distributing food to the public without a license. Last Sunday, Michele Markowitz and Fred Carroll were issued $200 tickets, but returned for the meal this Sunday.

When asked why he returned in the face of possible ticketing, Bobman said: "It's what we do. I wish they weren't so concerned about something so small."

Bobman also indicated that the group was waiting for a decision from the State of Connecticut Health department on the situation which should come after a hearing in Hartford on May 19.

The group, which is mostly made up of Wesleyan students, was supported by a few community members.

Dottie Teneyck prepared a pot of organic food, and proclaimed that she was not afraid to receive a citation from the Health Department for providing food for those who need it.

"Come and serve it in my backyard," Francine Augieri, a local teacher invited. "This is just a message asking you to serve the food on private property, and not here on Main Street."

In a flier being distributed, Food Not Bombs summarized their refusal to pursue food licensing:

"We have refused to obtain a permit because we do not believe we fall under the city health code any more than a bake sale or picnic does. We do not think the city government should have the ability to prevent people from sharing food."

Carroll seemed dubious about the city's ability to protect the health of its citizens.

"If the health department can't prevent me from buying and smoking cigarettes," he said. "Don't worry about protecting me from vegetables."

Food Not Bomb members vowed to continue sharing meals.

"This is one of a few meals I count on every week," Cocomo Rock said. "We even heard a sermon about it at my church this week. What's the crime in letting people eat? Where's the Christ in that?"

ADDENDUM: Middletown Press story here.