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Letters to the editor: 8/16/07

Posted on August 16, 2007 by Staff

Breaking bread together
I was pleased to see that The Carrboro Citizen is covering the conflict over the “issue” of food at our town’s really really free markets. This seems to be part of a larger conflict over public space occuring at other locations such as Weaver St.’s lawn and the Carrboro Greenspace.

I put “issue” in quotes because I think it is important to point out that the hundreds of diverse participants who have been coming to the markets have made food a central part of their giving, taking and skill-sharing for over three years, and only now has the town government seriously presented food as a “problem.” Anyone who comes to these markets will realize that nearly every single person eats at the really free markets, and that a plurality if not majority of participants, from Carrboro bus drivers to Durham housing project residents to high school punks and political radicals, also brings food.

In other words, the food is central to the event itself. It would seem that these large groups of folks feel so passionate sharing food for free that they are willing to directly defy a town ordinance against uninsured food sharing.

Insurance for food-sharing at the Commons would cost hundreds of dollars a month. So in a broader sense, this “issue” cuts to the heart of an important question: Shouldn’t we be able to gather on “our” (government-owned) commons and share food without paying exorbitant fees?

I can think of two more questions raised here. In the face of the overwhelming popular support which the really free markets and their banquets receive, how can the town government change its laws so that this event does not have to be “non-compliant”? If the current system which governs use of “public” space is too inflexible to allow for this unique and inclusive public event, a second, more troubling question is raised. What are Carrboro police planning (and willing) to do to stop hundreds of diverse Carrboro residents from breaking bread together?

John Stephenson
Carrboro

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