Dear Indymedia Los Angeles,\r\n<\/p>
\r\nTo our dismay, an article was published on Indymedia LA that supplies\r\ndis-information regarding the activities of the Venice Chapter of Food\r\nNot Bombs and its collective members.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nWe serve approximately 150 - 250 people in Venice and Santa Monica every\r\nSunday. Our collective consists of volunteers from all over Los Angeles,\r\nincluding members of Axis of Justice. Preparation for our Sunday meal\r\nstarts early Saturday morning and does not end until late Sunday. \r\n<\/p>
\r\nThis chapter of Food Not Bombs has been active in Venice and Santa\r\nMonica for a number of years opposing criminalization of homeless\r\npeople, feeding hungry people healthy vegan food on a weekly basis, and\r\nproviding services that no Social Service agency does in this area.\r\n\r\nWe are the only activist\/charitable organization on the Venice Boardwalk\r\nserving people in such a public fashion while opposing militarization\r\nand we have been on the cutting edge of legal issues in Venice.\r\n\r\nPrior to the March 1, 2005 enforcement of the recently amended Venice\r\nBeach Ordinance LAMC 42.15, we had an all-day peace camp on Sundays -\r\nrain or shine - in order to provide services and raise awareness of the\r\nplight of homeless people while the west side of Los Angeles is fast\r\nbeing gentrified.Since the permit system, we have had to move out of our\r\nPeace Camp, as it is only for those with permits. We now serve every\r\nSunday in front of Dudley pagoda from around 2 pm until the food and\r\nother donations are given out.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nThe new Venice Boardwalk ordinance does not permit organizations - only\r\nindividuals - and most tables (with or without permits) on the Boardwalk\r\nare selling merchandise for profit. The Venice Food Not Bombs collective\r\nis proud of the work it does in Venice opposing police abuse and\r\ndefending Freedom of Speech for those who may be less able to do this\r\nfor themselves. The Venice Food Not Bombs has been the only organization\r\ndocumenting incidents in an organized fashion. Since our inception, we\r\nhave been under moderate to heavy police surveillance and interference.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nFood Not Bombs is an international organization that has been supported\r\nby Amnesty International and it is celebrating its 25-year anniversary.\r\nThe co-founder of Food Not Bombs, Keith McHenry, recently visited and\r\nstayed with collective members of the Venice\/Santa Monica Food Not Bombs\r\nso he could attend and speak at a benefit organized by Axis of Justice\r\nfor Southern California Food Not Bombs chapters.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nThe Food Not Bombs Collective, Venice Beach<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Comment received regarding a post by Barbara Peck.","numcomment":4,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2005\/07\/132933.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":132940,"heading":"WHICH ARTICLE","article":"Which article are you refering to? And what are the specific arguments that you disagree with?","author":"ARE YOU REFERING TO?","parent_id":132933,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-07-18 00:56:17","modified":"2005-07-18 00:56:17","fileurl":""},{"id":133008,"heading":"Link to original","article":"http:\/\/la.indymedia.org\/news\/2005\/07\/131893.php","author":"johnk","parent_id":132933,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-07-19 00:09:52","modified":"2005-07-19 00:09:52","fileurl":""},{"id":133231,"heading":"Venice Food Not Bombs","article":"Dear John:\r\n\r\nThank you for posting your article in defense of Venice Food Not Bombs. \r\n\r\nWhile I agree that the mother organization, Food Not Bombs, has a highly commendable track record, FNB members' (Miss Peggy & Calvin) mismanagement of the Venice Boardwalk Association (now defunct) created to defend our 1st Amendment Rights may, unfortunately, have reflected negatively on the FNB organization as a whole. \r\n\r\nCandidly, I would say that, while Miss Peggy Lee Kennedy and Calvin are, probably, well-suited for feeding and defending the homeless; they were not particularly well-suited for the leadership role they assumed on behalf of Venice Boardwalk 'vendors'. A role that, ultimately, discredited them with many people (myself included). \r\n\r\nSubsequently, they had the chance to redeem themselves, when they filed the lawsuit, but chose to exclude, rather than include, those they had attempted to lead, adding insult to injury.\r\n\r\nPerhaps you should spend some time on the boardwalk to find out what I'm talking about. ","author":"Barbara Peck","parent_id":132933,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-07-20 19:05:31","modified":"2005-07-20 19:05:31","fileurl":""},{"id":133590,"heading":"Not an article, just an email","article":"That was just an email we got. I didn't write it. I'm passing it on as a "letter to the non-editor" of sorts. Thanks for the information on the situation. In my opinion, it's bad that the city wishes to silence what the people have created in Venice. All defenders need to look at the big picture at all times, because the free speech vibe barely exists in LA.\r\n\r\nI haven't been out to Venice in much since I worked out there years ago. Mad props to Beyond Baroque, an awesome venue and bookstore. Same to Sparc and the graffiti pit, and all the artists and activists on the boardwalk.","author":"johnk","parent_id":132933,"mime_type":"text\/html","created":"2005-07-23 08:46:36","modified":"2005-07-23 08:46:36","fileurl":""}]}