[Wamvan] Fwd: FOOD IS A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE

[jana g]

Thought WAMmers would be interested in this upcoming event
of solidarity ... in the spirit of Food Security for All !   jj


From: "Chris Johnson" <chris at bchannelnews.tv>

http://www.foodnotbombs.net/food_is_a_right.html

We are proposing that people all over the world consider sharing free
meals in celebration our right to food and participate in our campaign for
an end to laws restricting acts of compassion. Celebrate our right to feed
the hungry with music, theater, and the sharing of food.

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

It has been distressing to receive so many reports in the past few weeks
of people being threatened with arrest or cities adopting new laws
limiting people's right to share free food with the public. People in
England, New Zealand, California, Texas, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and
Florida contacted Food Not Bombs about having been threatened with arrest.
Others report that their local governments are considering laws to limit
acts of compassion.

This new wave of threats is happening as half of all Americans are
struggling to survive. The Department of Agriculture's February report
shows that 46,286,294 people relied on food stamps in November of 2011.
People have been arriving at Food Not Bombs meals claiming they had not
eaten in four days because other food programs had exhausted their
resources. The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 1 in 7
people or 925 million people world wide went hungry in 2010. We are
announcing a global campaign to recognize that sharing food with the
hungry is an unregulated activity of compassion and should not be
interfered with by the authorities.

Our movement started when the "Diggers" occupied St George's Hill in
Surrey, England on April 1, 1649 in a protest for the right of landless
people to feed themselves. We are announcing our global campaign for the
right of all people to share food with the hungry without regulation on
the anniversary of the first act of the peaceful resistance by the
"Diggers" of St George's Hill.

The public is encouraged to share meals with their community on Sunday,
April 1, 2012 to celebrate our right to share food and end all efforts to
restrict acts of compassion.

ENDORSED BY

     Barbara Ehrenreich - author of Nickel and Dimed
     Dr. Cornel West - author and professor Princeton University
     Noam Chomsky - author and professor M.I.T.
     Michael Parenti - author and lecturer
     Raj Patel - author of Stuffed and Starved
     Eric Holt-Giménez - Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy
     Bill McKibben - author Deep Economy
     David Barsamian - founder and director of Alternative Radio
     David Rovics - Musician, USA
     Kevin Devine - Musician, Brooklyn, NY
     Dorinda Moreno - Fuerza Mundial Collaborative
     Rev. Brian Burch - President, St. Clare's Multifaith Housing Society
     Francisca James Hernández, Ph.D. - Southwest Institute for Research on
Women
     Kathy Kelly - Co-coordinator, Voices for Creative Nonviolence
     Max Ventura - Musician, Activist, Mom, USA
     Michele Burke - St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
     Rabbi. Auri V. Ish - Musician, Nederland Colorado
     Christina Persaud - Halifax Nova Scotia
     Can Baskent - Practical Anarchy, New York City
     Planting Justice - Oakland, CA
     KT Terry - Founder Homeless Not Hopeless Poets For Change
     Marian Wagner - The North Country Coalition for Justice and Peace,
East Ryegate, Vermont
     Tessza Udvarhelyi - The City is for All, Budapest, Hungary
     Tristram Stuart - organized "Feeding the 5000"in London's Trafalgar
Square UK
     Kathy Mitro - Daytona Beach, Florida USA
     Agustina Vidal - Myrtle Beach Food Not Bombs
     Birmingham Food Not Bombs - Birmingham, UK
     Keith McHenry - Co-founder of the Food Not Bombs Movement
     Lauren Melodia - Founder & Co-organizer Milk Not Jails USA
     Tom Ferguson - Author, Atlanta, Gerogia USA
     Comida, no bombas - Monterrey, Mexico
     Tampa Food Not Bombs - Tampa, Florida USA
     Grand Rapids Food Not Bombs - Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
     The Civil Liberties Defense Center - Eugene, Oregon, USA
     Durango Food Not Bombs - Durango, Colorado, USA
     Houston Food Not Bombs - Houston, Texas, USA
     Budapest Food Not Bombs - Budapest, Hungary
     Randall Amster - Chair of the Master's Program in Humanities at
Prescott College, and also serves as the Executive Director of the
Peace & Justice Studies Association. USA
     Ellen Murphy - Bellingham, WA, USA
     Cincinnati Food Not Bombs - Cincinnati, OH, USA
     Miakoda (jyll taylor) - founder & director of Fierce Allies
     Washington D.C. Food Not Bombs - Washington D.C. USA