Food Not Bombs Arrested (again) in Orlando for Feeding Homeless; branded "Food terrorists" by Mayor
58 replies, posted
[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;50540226]Also, this is South Florida we're talking about here. Real Estate is South Florida's literal lifeblood in terms of economy. I can understand why the mayor of Orlando takes it so seriously.
Still doesn't excuse the hilariously detached line of 'food terrorism' though.[/QUOTE]
Orlando is central Florida
[QUOTE=Scarabix;50540160]Reddit is full of terrible people more at eleven[/QUOTE]
it brings a good point tho. the story in the article is dumb as fuck and those people shouldn't have been arrested. but the unfortunate reality is that you can't solve homelessness just by giving out food on the streets.
shelters exist for a reason. it gives homeless people a safe environment to eat, sleep, clean, and get back on their feet. giving out food on the streets, while a nice gesture, only solves the problem temporarily. where are they going to get their next meal? should they stay on the streets and hope that they'll come back? it creates a mindset that there will always be someone who will come by and give them food. the problem isn't being solved.
ideally, people giving out food should also offer them transport to the homeless shelter. and the majority of the food that they give out should go to the homeless shelter.
I can see the point of forbidding what they were doing. If you're on your own property you can give away as much food as you want, but in a public park you're subject to the rules of the park. My local parks for example require booking and paying for the use of pavilions and shelters for parties and family events. You can use them casually for a picnic without paying, but not if your hosting a party or gathering. I could imagine a weekly recurring unofficial large gathering that causes excessive littering and other issues to cause a problem. Obviously this was a reoccurring issue that the organization chose to ignore and eventually it becomes trespassing and people get arrested. They should take the food directly to the homeless, support existing food kitchens, or rent or get a space donated for the events.
Is it really a good time to be labeling charitable organizations terrorists....in Orlando....
[QUOTE=Jemminaag;50539972]i said us government not the entire us government[/QUOTE]
then you probably should have said "orlando city government"
there aren't enough homeless shelters in america to support our entire homeless population, and often they can be rife with violence and theft. I don't blame a homeless person for wanting to take their chances on the streets instead.
[QUOTE=Swiket;50540151]article in the OP is from 2011[/QUOTE]
Oh fuck
I just saw it on Reddit, didn't see the date of the article. My bad.
[QUOTE=JDER14;50540123]The mayor using the term "food terrorism" is an over reaction and just makes the buzz term "terrorims" lose further meaning. But I do have a paragraph from the reddit thread on a similar article explaining the reasoning behind barring people from feeding the homeless.[/QUOTE]
if people being homeless is such an issue so that they flock to the streets when others give out food, maybe they should put more resources towards fixing the problem, rather than sweeping it under the rug.
[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;50540226]Also, this is South Florida we're talking about here. Real Estate is South Florida's literal lifeblood in terms of economy. I can understand why the mayor of Orlando takes it so seriously.
Still doesn't excuse the hilariously detached line of 'food terrorism' though.[/QUOTE]
orlando isn't part of the south florida market, like at all. it's not even close to south florida. it belongs to central florida.
anyways this law is absolutely ridiculous, preventing sharing food to large groups is something you'd never hear of. I can see if it's for health reasons, but it's also harming those who want to feed and help the homeless. I know this is an old article, so I hope something has changed there.
[QUOTE=KillerJaguar;50540283]Orlando is central Florida[/QUOTE]
Anything below Okeechobee is South Florida to me.
OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE
I think the ordinance is fucking retarded but it is true that homeless people are like bears in a sense, and sometimes they get belligerent when you don't "help" them. That's not really something that applies to this though, this was an "open kitchen" (or whatever you want to call it) and not at all related to what that reddit post was talking about.
Oh, and there have been laws punishing the act of giving food to shelters. Every single time I've ever read about those types of laws it's been about "food safety" which is really just some busybodies not thinking ahead. (this is the homeless, expired food is better than no food)
[QUOTE=rndgenerator;50539920]Why would you prevent picnics?[/QUOTE]
Picanic basket theft obviously!
But really now, this is so dumb.
[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;50540786]Anything below Okeechobee is South Florida to me.[/QUOTE]
Orlando is north of Lake Okeechobee
[QUOTE=Jemminaag;50539769]us government takes it pretty seriously[/QUOTE]
I'll bet they'll try to make it so you can't buy a griddle if you're on the food-terrorist watch list.
[editline]17th June 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;50540885]I think the ordinance is fucking retarded but it is true that homeless people are like bears in a sense, and sometimes they get belligerent when you don't "help" them. That's not really something that applies to this though, this was an "open kitchen" (or whatever you want to call it) and not at all related to what that reddit post was talking about.
Oh, and there have been laws punishing the act of giving food to shelters. Every single time I've ever read about those types of laws it's been about "food safety" which is really just some busybodies not thinking ahead. (this is the homeless, expired food is better than no food)[/QUOTE]
Concerns over "food safety" when the people you're giving it to would've most likely dug it out of a dumpster anyway.
How legitimately fucking stupid do you have to be to call feeding the homeless terrorism
you'd have to be completely delusional and out of touch with reality to actually think this
[friendlyjordies voice]
I did NOT move down to Orlando to witness common rabble peasantry. Surely these ruffians can find their handouts [I]elsewhere[/I].
[QUOTE=Zero-Point;50541273]Concerns over "food safety" when the people you're giving it to would've most likely dug it out of a dumpster anyway.[/QUOTE]That's why I said they weren't thinking ahead.
[QUOTE=KillerJaguar;50541114]Orlando is north of Lake Okeechobee[/QUOTE]
Not in my heart it isn't.
[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;50541997]Not in my heart it isn't.[/QUOTE]
Orlando is in central Florida.
That's a fact.
[QUOTE=JDER14;50540123]The mayor using the term "food terrorism" is an over reaction and just makes the buzz term "terrorims" lose further meaning. But I do have a paragraph from the reddit thread on a similar article explaining the reasoning behind barring people from feeding the homeless.
[QUOTE]Sometimes I wonder if people on Reddit have ever lived in the inner city. These laws exist because good people decide that the best thing for homeless people is to feed and clothe them. Homeless people then flock to downtown areas where food is given out and a massive problem festers.
You may think it's cops being dicks but these are the guys that actually have to deal with the homeless beyond the pleasant times where you are giving them free food. Spend all day "hassling" people who are pissing and shitting the streets, jacking off in public, having sex in public, are often violent and mentally unstable, litter everywhere, and cause about half the crime downtown and see if you want people encouraging them to stay downtown by giving out free food.
There are shelters. There are places for homeless to go. Many choose not to go because they would actually have to partake in society. They would have to stop drinking and doing drugs. They would have to show up at a reasonable hour and bath before they can sleep at night. They don't want to. Believe me, I've worked with homeless and those who are cast out from society. I've lived in dodgy areas. Handing out food like this is not a solution. It's just a band aid that enables homeless people to keep being homeless.
Hate me. Brigade me. Do whatever you want on the post, but understand that I want these laws to exist for the sake of those they are feeding. It encourages homelessness. Please, take that food to a shelter and encourage people to get back on their feet. I've never seen a law against that and I doubt there ever will be.[/QUOTE]
[/QUOTE]
I'd like to point out that this type of rhetoric is just another example of taking an entire group of people (in this case, a group that is already marginalized and disadvantaged in our society) and characterizing it by the actions of a few of its members in order to discriminate against the entire group.
This type of thinking is how we create many of our social problems, such as racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and so on. It's dangerous, stupid, and most importantly, outright wrong. The homeless are the product of other major social problems, not the cause of them. If you don't want people pissing in the streets, don't give them a reason to be in the streets to begin with.
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;50540885]I think the ordinance is fucking retarded but it is true that homeless people are like bears in a sense, and sometimes they get belligerent when you don't "help" them. That's not really something that applies to this though, this was an "open kitchen" (or whatever you want to call it) and not at all related to what that reddit post was talking about.
Oh, and there have been laws punishing the act of giving food to shelters. Every single time I've ever read about those types of laws it's been about "food safety" which is really just some busybodies not thinking ahead. (this is the homeless, expired food is better than no food)[/QUOTE]
The problem is there's literally no chance the homeless could ever press charges even if the (almost certainly perfectly healthy) expired food was harmful. How would they get the resources to do so?
[QUOTE=soccerskyman;50539734]For those not reading the article, here's the reasoning:
Fuck people that need food, what about my property value???[/QUOTE]
Homeless don't vote. Soccer moms do. Easy choice for a politician.
[QUOTE]A spokesperson for the city of Orlando said that the ordinance had its origins in complaints from residents and business owners about trash left after the food distribution, public urination and concerns about crime.[/QUOTE]
Preeeeetty sure littering, public urination and crime (duh) are already a crime unless Orlando is being backwards? Just ask the people doing the hand-outs/the ones eating to clean up after themselves and maybe have someone watch that they do it. Fine/arrest them if they do anything like the reasons they cite, but why would you ever think it's a good idea to arrest the ones doing hand-outs?
Hi I work with homeless people on a regular basis and boy let me tell you whoever wrote that wall of text on Reddit is so full of shit that it's pretty scary. Yes homeless people do quite a few bad things but I bet you would too if you literally had no fucking future. It's not like any of them want to be homeless and believe it or not but hard work isn't the only key to success, nevermind the fact that we live in a country where mental health care is damn near nonexistent. Feeding homeless people isn't going to encourage homelessness and anyone who says it will is seriously talking out their ass because they need to pick on someone to feel better.
[QUOTE=hippowombat;50539716]What the actual fuck is the problem with sharing food exactly?[/QUOTE]
This is (Thread from snippet posted above):
[URL]https://np.reddit.com/r/rage/comments/4odsqi/slug/d4bwxgp[/URL]
I live in a city centre as well. I seriously hate the homeless in my city which I almost all know by name by now. They are constantly 24/7 drunk, sexually harass people, piss and shit everywhere, make a shitload of noise (Fucking sing drunkenly) right below my window.
The police can only lock them up for a few days and thats it.
So I agree. Dont feed the Homeless, they dont need it as there are shelters in all the big city's where they can get free meals a bed and help to get their life back on track. Feeding them on the street just keeps them there, out of reach of the people who can actually fix their problem.
Seriously, fuck the drunk street bums.
The ones who are actually trying to fix themselves and not drunk 24/7 are the ones getting food in the shelters anyway.
I get the reasoning behind it, but it's still a little fucked up to deny help to those who are way too far into the trash to find their way back.
Say what you want about Brazil, but in my hometown we found a simple solution. A $0.25 per meal restaurant open for everyone regardless of their social standing. It helps people, it doesn't create the described issues and isn't a competition to the local economy. Oh, and its actually a pretty complete meal too, all necessary food groups, something to drink and dessert. They also serve breakfast for $0.13.
Most important of all- it treats everyone as respectable human beings.
[editline]20th June 2016[/editline]
Btw, this is all in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which everyone constantly parades as being the world's asshole for some reason.
[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;50547501]The problem is there's literally no chance the homeless could ever press charges even if the (almost certainly perfectly healthy) expired food was harmful. How would they get the resources to do so?[/QUOTE]That's not a problem because we don't live in a world where you need to pay to press criminal charges and shelters actually do have oversight and take their role seriously.
[editline]20th June 2016[/editline]
Two things:
[QUOTE=greasemunky;50555212]Hi I work with homeless people on a regular basis and boy let me tell you whoever wrote that wall of text on Reddit is so full of shit that it's pretty scary.[/QUOTE]You're right in that giving people food "encourages homelessness" is fucking dumb, but let's not pretend that homeless people will go where they can get food, handouts, money, or whatever will help them and they will [I]linger.[/I] This is pretty basic behavior, and for somebody with their head up their ass it will look like helping them at all encourages them to forego any opportunity to improve themselves. Yeah, plenty of people have their heads up their asses, but let's not pretend that everyone on the streets is stuck there:
[QUOTE]It's not like any of them want to be homeless[/QUOTE][I]Bullshit.[/I] Some of them have no interest in picking themselves up, and I know you know the type because they're always the shitheads who try to steal extra or negotiate for better items. Fuck those people. I'm not even talking about the people who have substance abuse problems either, I'm talking about the assholes who are still convinced life owes them something and refuses to take responsibility for their own actions. Plenty of homeless people wind up there for a variety of reasons, most of them I'd chalk up to "accidents" that just ended badly, but there are a select few who truly deserve it and I have no pity for them. They go to shelters, food banks, support functions, and everything else just to mooch and take away from the families and those struggling to improve themselves and I truly enjoy booting their asses back out on the street.
[editline]20th June 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=taipan;50555342]So I agree. Dont feed the Homeless, they dont need it as there are shelters in all the big city's where they can get free meals a bed and help to get their life back on track. Feeding them on the street just keeps them there, out of reach of the people who can actually fix their problem.[/QUOTE]One thing here, shelters are not nice places. Those assholes you're talking about (and I talked about above) do sometimes go there and the volunteers can't always catch them before they try to stab somebody. There's people on the street who are [I]extremely[/I] insane and all it takes is one bad incident and they're gone forever; you will literally have to drag them kicking and screaming back into a shelter. These types are really not the type of person you want scaring off, and they're also out there on the street scared and confused right along with the mean assholes.
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