Orlando Food Not Bombs Says Arrests Won't Stop Weekly Food-Sharing Events
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
By: Nicole Creston

June 07, 2011 | WMFE - Members of the group Orlando Food Not Bombs are serving food to homeless people in Lake Eola Park again Wednesday. The move comes in defiance of an Orlando city ordinance that regulates the serving of food to large groups in public parks. A total of eight members of the homeless advocacy group have been arrested since last Wednesday.

Orlando Police arrested the eight activists for violating an ordinance against serving food to groups of 25 people or more in a downtown public park without a permit. The same rule limits each group to two permits per year.

Ben Markeson of Food Not Bombs says the group's weekly Wednesday events provide a much-needed service. “We’re going to continue to share food in Lake Eola Park because there are still people in our community who need that food,” he says. “A lot of poor and working people are having a hard time getting by these days.”

Markeson says he won’t be surprised if more Food Not Bombs members end up in handcuffs.

“I would expect that the police will attempt to make more arrests – will make more arrests,” he states.