The Wednesday afternoon of August 15th, 2007, seemed like a typical day at the Santa Cruz Farmers Market. Farmers, or their employees, were busy selling fruits and vegetables grown in the Monterey Bay Area, and throughout California. Meanwhile, customers of the market and other folks gathered in the parking lot alongside the market to share vegetarian food and enjoy the music of a community drum circle. Unfortunately, this traditional weekly community gathering has recently been repressed by the Santa Cruz police and deemed illegal thanks to the passage of a new city ordinance that prohibits people from being in a parking lot or garage, unless they have a vehicle there (and then only for fifteen minutes).
For more information about the new city ordinance, the ongoing police repression and the response of the Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra, see:
'Parking Lot Panic Law' Used to Disperse Drummers in Santa Cruz
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/08/18471154.php
Drum circle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_circle
Food Not Bombs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_Not_Bombs
Are you surprised to learn that on March 8, 2006, an Austin, Texas FBI officer gave a guest lecture at the University of Texas School of Law and in his presentation he listed Indymedia and Food Not Bombs as "Terrorist Watch" cause groups in Austin? You can read more about that here:
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2006/03/66278.html
Food Not Bombs is an all-volunteer organization that recovers food that would otherwise be thrown out and serves vegetarian meals to the public at no cost. Indymedia provides an open newswire in which readers may publish news, events, and commentary. That sounds like solidarity to me, not terrorism.
Food Not Bombs and the community drum circle are not only valuable aspects of the Wednesday afternoon Farmers Market, but important social spaces for art, compassion, nourishment and entertainment in Santa Cruz.
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Crossposted at Indybay.org.
