If you haven't already, read [the original article](http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/food_terrorism_in_the_magic_kingdom_20110628/).

First up, I emailed Orlando's Mayor. It took 2 weeks but I finally received a response. -

>Dear Constituent,

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>Thank you for your email and concern for meeting the needs of the homeless population. I want to make it clear that I share your concern and I am committed to extending help and opportunity to our homeless population.

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>While media reports may have inaccurately led you to believe the City has banned homeless feeding programs in our City, nothing could be further from the truth.

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>Just as the City of Orlando requires permits for a variety of gatherings including parades and garage sales, the Orlando City Council passed an ordinance in 2006 requiring a permit for large group feedings. This ordinance is once again in the news because of a ruling resulting from a 2006 lawsuit filed against the City regarding this ordinance. On April 13, 2011 the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal upheld Orlando's Large Group Feeding Ordinance, finding that it does not violate either the First Amendment of the United States Constitution nor the Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act as some accused.

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>More specifically, the City of Orlando’s ordinance requires a permit which is provided at no cost to event organizers and will allow the City to manage large group feedings in our public parks with advance notice, ensuring the safety of our citizens through appropriate crowd control and waste management preventing any possible health or safety hazards.

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>The Council’s approval of this ordinance is not about whether or not to feed the homeless it’s about location. The City has designated an area on Sylvia Lane for groups to set up feedings for the homeless, with tables, benches, portolets and security. This designated area is within blocks from community service agencies, providing easier access to needed services.

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>The City of Orlando is committed to ensuring that feeding programs and other services are available for the homeless in downtown, as well as other areas of our community. In fact, there are a myriad of community service agencies in Downtown Orlando where the homeless can get meals everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In addition to the daily meals, these community agencies provide essential counseling, job training, education and healthcare services that are needed to provide a successful transition to self-sufficiency.

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>The regional issue of homelessness is a concern of the Orlando City Council. While social services do not fall underneath the City’s jurisdiction, the City is committed to ending homelessness in the Central Florida region. In fact, in 2007, the Regional Commission on Homelessness was formed in Central Florida consisting of 26 members representing governments, nonprofits, the business community and civic and religious organizations. In 2008, the Commission established a permanent public-private partnership the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness (CFCH) to enact Ten2End, a ten-year plan to end homelessness in Central Florida by addressing gaps in existing programs and identifies the practical steps necessary to prevent and end homelessness effectively. In fact since the formation of the CFCH, the Central Florida community has received an unprecedented amount of funding and resources dedicated toward homeless services in the Orlando area.

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>Ending homelessness remains a top priority for the City of Orlando and the Central Florida region as we continue to work together to address homelessness with a holistic approach focused on housing, prevention, healthcare and supportive systems. Again, thank you for writing me and please contact me if I can be of assistance in the future.

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>Sincerely,

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>Buddy Dyer Mayor

tl;dr - The city takes issue with the location. They admit to having a 2 event limit per year on group feedings but apparently made arrangements to bypass that provided the organization uses their location.

Next, I emailed Food Not Bombs. The guy wins points for responding in under 2 hours, but loses some for not taking the time to fix formatting after copy/pasting. -

>Thanks Damon, the location he offered is under a freeway overpass in an area where no one would ever go inside a chain linked fence topped with several strands of barbed wire. Our effort to communicate with the public and seek to influence a change in society would be impossible at that location. This was the very same argument San Francisco used. At one point we did move to a location where not one person other then the very hungry ever came by and we became a charity and had no impact on public opinion. Food Not Bombs started when we shared vegan meals outside the stockholders meeting of the Bank of Boston to protest their investment policies. I gave a presentation at the Pine Street Inn to about 50 homeless men about why we were having the action. Many of them came and many business people also joined the meal and we saw just how powerful the interaction between the housed and unhoused was and agreed to quit our jobs to dedicate our selves to delivering groceries to people at public housing and other programs for low income people and do outreach sharing vegan meals in public spaces reclaiming the "commons" for a few hours each day.

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>We share our meals at the location at Lake Eola Park because we can reach a diverse community of people including people that are low income and visit the downtown library and because the city asked us to share our meals there where the parks department had built a large group picnic area with chairs, tables and fresh water. A year after we moved to this location the city introduce the Large Group Feeding law with out ever speaking with us about its impact.

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>There are over 9,000 homeless people in Orlando and Second Harvest reports that over 55,000 people in the area go without food each month. The five agencies funded by the city and foundations provide support for almost 1,500 of the 9,000 homeless. Clearly this is a national crisis and needs a national solution. Countries with universal single payer healthcare have almost no homeless people so that is one possible solution where we could reduce our spending on the military and provide the real security of healthcare. I have been homeless myself for many years because I lost my Blue Cross and Blue Shield when I was fired for being ill. This caused me to owe over $25,000 in medical bills during the month I believed I had health coverage and as a result ended up homeless. This and other policies are often the underlying cause of poverty. No one in the world's wealthiest country should need to stand in line to eat at a soup kitchen. Many seeking food with Food Not Bombs have jobs and housing but can't make all their bills. At least a quarter are veterans who often risked their lives defending our country but now find themselves living in poverty. This is the shame of our country and unless we organize and have as much impact on the public as possible our country will become a collection of failed states with millions scavenging for their basic needs while a tiny number of super wealthy live in glass towers in gated countries in Arab Kingdoms. Thanks for your support. Keith McHenry

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>cofounder of the Food Not Bombs movement

tl;dr - They don't want the overpass location because nobody can see them and they can't attract more supporters.

At first I was outraged only at the city of Orlando. Now I'm outraged at both the city and Food Not Bombs.

It appears as though neither side is interested in simply getting food to people who need it. The city will allow feedings, but only if they can hide poverty from public view.

Food Not Bombs claims to only be trying to help but it seems they're also interested in exploiting the poor to grow their organization. They're willing to have over 20 of their volunteers go to jail instead of keep them out of jail so they can help people.