
{"id":731,"date":"2007-08-09T07:50:27","date_gmt":"2007-08-09T15:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2007\/08\/09\/food-at-really-really-free-market-a-bone-of-contention\/"},"modified":"2007-08-09T07:50:27","modified_gmt":"2007-08-09T15:50:27","slug":"food-at-really-really-free-market-a-bone-of-contention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2007\/08\/09\/food-at-really-really-free-market-a-bone-of-contention\/","title":{"rendered":"Food at Really Really Free Market a bone of contention"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>By Taylor Sisk<\/strong><br \/>\nStaff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>With one participant reportedly saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are people here who need to eat,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a variety of foods were distributed at last Saturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Really Really Free Market, held the first Saturday of each month on the Carrboro Town Commons.<\/p>\n<p>The rub, from the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perspective, is that participants in the Really Really Free Market aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t insured to distribute food at the event and therefore have been in violation of the event\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s contract with the town.<\/p>\n<p>But at least a few among those who bring goods to the gathering for free distribution say the town is wrong \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that they are no different than anyone who may bring food to a public park and then share it, and that signs posted informing those who partake that the town can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be held liable in case of sickness sufficiently cover all concerned.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>If there are rules in place that prevent the sharing of food in the Town Commons, said Carrboro resident Tamara Tal, who brought and, within five minutes, parted with an entire loaf of her homemade zucchini bread, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I argue that we need to readjust the rules.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Food has been distributed, at no charge, at past Really Really Free Market events \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in fact, photographs of attendees loading plates with covered-dish items are available on www.carrboro.com \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s administration had yet to resort to direct measures to prevent it.<\/p>\n<p>It appears that will soon no longer be the case.<\/p>\n<p>Carrboro Chief of Police Carolyn Hutchison was at the Commons on Saturday, as was Town Manager Steve Stewart and at least two members of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. A uniformed town police officer was also on hand shooting video as food was distributed.<\/p>\n<p>Stewart said participants of the Really Really Free Market have in the past been duly warned: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We went to extra efforts to advise them of the rules,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We put our staff in a most uncomfortable position,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Alderman Alex Zaffron in an email to his fellow aldermen and town staff. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153These folks have been given every opportunity to meet us halfway and demonstrate an infinitesimal level of responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>They have chosen to do neither. I suggest we take immediate corrective action, if required.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Chief Hutchison said in an email sent to the board of aldermen that she spoke with several Really Really Free Market participants and that she \u00e2\u20ac\u0153felt very saddened and frustrated by their non-compliance,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d saying that she thought it was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153in the Town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best interest not to \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcfight\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 with participants\u00e2\u20ac\u009d while the event was still in progress.<\/p>\n<p>But, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Clearly, the Town must take a definitive and realistic stand,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she added, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153so that the police department may effectively respond in the future.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nTal finds the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reaction unfortunate.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think this town, this community is built around community member-to-community member interaction, like at the Farmers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Market and at Weaver Street,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tal said. That community-building experience, she believes, is much of what makes Carrboro unique.<\/p>\n<p>And one of the most essential manners in which community is conveyed, she said, is through the sharing of food.<\/p>\n<p>At the core of the Really Really Free Market\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mission, Tal said, is the conviction that there are enough of the essentials of life to provide for all: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If we just use our resources in a different way, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enough for everyone.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>But, said Stewart, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No insurance, no food.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Distributing food without being insured is a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153potentially very serious issue,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It puts the entire responsibility of someone getting sick on the town of Carrboro and its taxpayers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Board of Alderman Jacquie Gist, who was present on Saturday, said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I love the Really Really Free Market \u00e2\u20ac\u201c environmentally, socially, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great. But this is a situation where the town has given them permission to hold [this event] and the public is invited \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re responsible.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Serving food that comes from a variety of sources presents, she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a public health official\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nightmare.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I believe in what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing, just not the food part.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Tal intends to return to the Really Really Free Market the first Saturday of September with, if not zucchini bread, something made in her kitchen. Whether that market is again held on the Carrboro Town Commons may well soon be taken under consideration.<\/p>\n<p>Stewart is now preparing a report on the market\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s activities, with recommendations on how to respond, to present to the aldermen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Taylor Sisk Staff Writer With one participant reportedly saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are people here who need to eat,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a variety of foods were distributed at last Saturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Really Really Free Market, held the first Saturday of each month on the Carrboro Town Commons. The rub, from the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perspective, is that participants in the Really&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}