Two weeks after being told they would need a permit to continue handing out free food to the community, the Peterborough chapter of Food Not Bombs gathered again—as they have for over 18 years—at Confederation Park in defiance of the City’s threats to shut them down.

According to reporting in Peterborough Currents, on the evening of March 4th volunteers were approached by a security guard who informed them that they would need a permit to continue operating. 

In later correspondence between Currents and Mayor Jeff Leal it was revealed that the CIty had initially alerted Food Not Bombs to the fact that they would need a permit to continue their efforts on February 12th, however it is unclear to whom this notice was delivered as no member reported receiving the notice.

Then, at 7:20 PM on March 18th, after nearly an hour of handing out meals, two GardaWorld security officers pulled over to alert those assembled that they were in contravention of a City by-law which prohibits offering food or drink in public parks without a permit.

As the officers made their way to the tent, they asked who was in charge, receiving a smattering of replies all underscoring the fact that indeed no one was.

One individual from the crowd asked if the security officer liked what he was being made to do to which he replied that he was “just doing his job” before explaining that everyone had one hour to vacate the park before the police would be called.

As the officers walked away, one attendee asked if next week the guards would do the same thing to which one of the officers responded that everyone “had been trespassed from the park” and that next week there would apparently be no warning from security prior to police intervention.

While negotiations between Food Not Bombs and the City have continued since the initial threat from security on March 4th, organizers have refused to accept the necessity of a permit to perform mutual aid in the midst of a growing affordability crisis.

According to a statement from the City to Arthur, Mayor Leal has offered to pay for a permit and any associated fees for 2024 out of the Mayor’s discretionary budget. 

This course of action, the statement continues, “would provide time to review the situation to consider a longer-term plan.”  

Meanwhile, Food Not Bombs volunteer and Trent University graduate student, Jordan Etherington, noted that Food Not Bombs would not accept this offer on the basis that “it would mean legitimizaing the idea that one should require a permit to feed people.”

Food Not Bombs is an international protest movement which aims to call attention to the disparities between government spending on war and weapons while neglecting the realities of poverty and food insecurity facing ctizens globally.

As such, the idea of being legitimized by a state authority flies in the face of its overarching goal. 

“Being too integrated with official state institutions is a risk,” Etherington explained, adding that even should they accept the free permit for 2024, Food Not Bombs still has “no guarantee that we would be able to afford paying for it next year, especially with the added price of insurance.”

When asked what the plan would be moving forward, Etherington added that they would continue to serve meals each Monday, and thereby forcing the City “to display a firm stance that they prioritize control over hungry people being fed.”