A Missoula Art ll - Sec 4 political picnic (revisited)...

HEALTH: Controversial cuisine: FOOD NOT BOMBS

In Alex Sakariassen's short article in the Missoula Independent News, today, Thursday, April 22, 2010, he writes:"A weekly vegetarian potluck outside the Missoula County Courthouse has sparked a civil liberties flap between local health officials and a decentralized group of peace activists called Food Not Bombs. The Missoula City-County Health Department confirms two inspectors approached Food Not Bombs during its weekly gathering Sunday evening and asked members to stop serving food. According to Environmental Health Supervisor Shannon Therriault, any organization that serves food to the public must have a service permit and pass a city-county review."
see http://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/missoula/health/Content?oid=1247859
for the rest of the story.
Yet, if one looks at Webster's definition of an organization ... "an administrative and functional structure (as a business or a political party); also : the personnel of such a structure," one need read no further.
Basically, an organization is systematically arranged and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals on a continuing basis. All organizations have a management structure that determines relationships between functions and positions, and subdivides and delegates roles, responsibilities, and authority to carry out defined tasks.
And there's the rub. Food Not Bombs is NOT an organization. It is an unmanageable, co-operative of individuals who gather to share food, sort of like you, your family and friends out for a picnic or gathering for a potluck.
That the City/State can and does object to people openly sharing free food and connections, isn't a suprise to anyone. In Daniel Quinn's Book Ishmael, (see http://www.ishmael.com/welcome.cfm) the pupil is US and Ishmael is an intellegent Ape (Imagine that!). We learn that 10,000 years ago, there was a shift in consciousness in the near east and the hunting/gathering culture of small tribes of individuals living off the land (defined as a leaver culture) was suddenly shifted to a sedentary farming/animal husbandry culture (defined as a taker culture). As this taker culture grew, it organized itself into a community to protect itself from outside attacks by forming a government to lock away its resources (namely FOOD). It expanded rapidly outward, conquering the smaller diverse leavers and as the old cliche goes, "the rest is history."
Consequently, FOOD NOT BOMBS chapters have been around since, "...Boston in 1980, It was started by activists involved in the anti-nuclear movement, Food Not Bombs has blossomed into a worldwide, grassroots, political movement of over 175 autonomous chapters. Each Food Not Bombs group serves free food to people in need and in support of political organizing efforts.
Food Not Bombs believes that society and government should value human life over material wealth, human need not corporate greed, and that most of its problems stem from this simple crisis in values." see http://sffnb.org/history/
It's well past time for our Big Brother government to support the efforts of activists who are making a diffence in people's lives in their local communities.
If you want to keep up with my case concerning Montanan's Fundamental Rights and/or read these important briefs:
On the internet go to:
http://fnweb1.isd.doa.state.mt.us/idmws/custom/sll/SLL_FN_Home.htm
Click on: Supreme Court Case Number
Enter either ( DA 09-0675 ) in the box and click search; or
Click on: Party search name and enter Gold;
Next click on Gold v. State and then click on Appelant Brief first then the 2 other briefs and new windows will pop up with pdfs which you can save and read.
As always,
Think about this and I'd like to encourage your comments about this important topic.
Feel free to follow this important Case.

happy earth day,
peace,
Rick Gold
Missoula, MT