Today was a long and ridiculous day for the Reclaim Your Food collective, and for the Brixton Metropolitan Police. The morning was full of the usual joyful cooking, this time with extra joyful chaos provided by the presence of a mini film crew making a documentary about surplus and waste in western society, including a section on the Food Not Bombs movement. The selection of fruit and veg was both fine and plentiful as usual, and we made a very large amount of very nice food. We packed the trolley and all of our hands and began the journey to brixton town square, only to find that the police were waiting for us with two police vans, 2 police cars and a mobile surveillance van. 400 yards away from the town square, before we even arrive, the police are threatening to arrest us if we set up. Aware that they did not have reasonable grounds to arrest us under the Anti Social Behavior Act because we were in no way causing harrasment or distress or alarm to anyone, we set up and began serving regardless. Immediately, one of us is arrested and taken to Briton police station. Half an hour later, the person who the police saw as the "spokesperson of the group" was also arrested. Both of them spent the next 13 hours in individual cells. The police had told us that they would arrest everyone surrounding our stall if they did not leave, so they started taking names and intimidating everyone (all on camera!), but then they suddenly realized that they didn't have any where near enough facilities to actually do it. So they gave up. They then shifted themselves to the side of the stall, where they spent the rest of the day trying to look menacing while we danced, sang, ate, fed everyone, and fixed bikes all day long! (Our friends set up a free bike fixing workshop this week! They strangely didn't get any attention from the police whatsoever…) When all the food had gone and all the bikes were fixed, we marched the banner down brixton high street in protest against the arrests, and set ourselves up in front of the station. The 'RECLAIM YOUR FOOD' banner was slightly out of context in front of the police station, so we attracted lots of attention from confused passers by. When we told them our story, they were both shocked and disgusted, and had their own horror stories of the brixton police to share with us, and we felt a powerful sense of solidarity. Every hour the police told us "one more hour" before our comrades would be released – until 2am. We put up our banner over the 'metropolitan police' plaque and sat down right on the station doorstep, a local friend made some tea in a pan, we made some informative signs to show buses as they stopped at the bus stop, and ended up continuing the fun of the day into the night. When it got colder, we went inside the station where a friend performed his best break dancing in the foyer! Finally, 2am came and our friends came out, but not without bad news – both are on bail and banned from Brixton for however long the police like, making it impossible for them to come and serve the food without being arrested. And one them had had his phone confiscated by the police because they had decided he had stolen it, due to some complications he had been having insurance. Still, the group were happy to be together again and the arrestees are now working on challenging the police's decisions. It was a hard day, but the point is: all the food got eaten and some said it was the best they'd ever had! 





Pictures :

We had recycled lot of good vegetable and fruits with some amazing bread.

We met us at the morning for cook, two French people come to joint us. Every thing start realy well.

 Then we are cooked : A big vegetable soup, a big salad, bread with oignon farce, mint thea, patatos and papers, several banana cake and one amazing fruite pie. All for free !

At the place where we serve the food we organize the stall a bit differente. Finaly we just put the banner more visilible, and start to serve. Everything was okay untill two policeman came.



                                                     


                                                       

They start to look at our leaflet, while we explained to them what we doing. Then after they asked to us to pick  up our stall away frome the place. We don't understand this spontaneous decision, and we asked why ? So they accused us to serve unsafe food to the people, of not possesion of licence or anyright to use this public space (Public for who ?). They above all accused us to organize gathering in the street, this thing is about this law Anti social behaviour. 

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/ukpga_20030038_en_5#pt4

 
                                                      


                                                       


Then we refuse and try to explain them we have right to serve free food and the vegan food should be a right for everyone. Exept them of course ! But after several threats of arrestation and the bad treatement frome one of us, we decied to move.
So we had continue the day in a park close to Brixton, we made pic-nic and invited everyone they want, joint us to eat.

For the next RYF, we don't know how will happen but the thing we know, it's we will never stop to do RYF. We will come back every Sunday at the same place without or with police even if they arrest us.

The repression give to us the wings !

 Links media
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/02/391653.html
http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/lambeth-cops-smash-free-food-racket/

   
    After more or less two months of « Reclaim Your Food », we wtart to have a good group of activists. We met  each-other this sunday 3 February at home ( 3 Northway Road, SE5 9AN, Brixton ) around 10 / 10, 30 am. We began to talk and have a coffee or tea.

We had already some vegetabls from New Covent Garden Market, than we skip last Firday morning. We had a lot of tomatos, some carrot, patatos, celery, oignon, cariand,... Then we made a big soup into a nice atmospher. Our neigtbour made for us a amazing lentils soup and gave for us some bread and crisps from the skip. Stephane a Food Not Bombs activist brought a excellent cake as well. And for the desert with the apple than Kairos brought, we cooked one apple pie, one apple cake, and one realy good crumble.

 

Is 2,30 pm, we are ready to serv for free!

We went to Brixton Town square to serve the food just in front of the Ritzy cinema. When we arrived (around 3pm) there was no people on the place. But after to instal the stall, the people started to come. Around 30 people came to eat all a long the day. As usual we are some homeless and junkies who were really happy to eat something hot for free, also some curious people and of course some friends.





                                                    







We gave as well some leaflte about « Reclaim Your Food », also some more about how squatting in London, etc... and we talk a lot with people to explain why we do this action. Generaly the people were really enjoy about the food and this action.

All the day we had a lot of fun even with  the cold. We left the place around 6/7 pm all the pots was almost
empty, and we were happy !