This commentary is by Cora Honigford of Hinesburg. She worked at the Howard Center’s Burlington syringe service program, Safe Recovery, until this March. Most of the clients she worked with at Safe Recovery are unhoused, and many eat at the Food Not Cops daily free lunch distribution.
I am deeply disappointed to see that Burlington’s city council has voted to force the Food Not Cops daily lunch distribution to move from the Marketplace Parking Garage. I have read the letter from Burlington businesses to the city administration and I fail to see how moving this free, community lunch program will help anyone.
The only reason provided to move the FNC lunch distribution is that some of the people fed have “have repeatedly stolen from businesses or caused harm”. Are we then to accept that people’s negative behavior means they deserve to starve? I refuse to tolerate the idea that imperfect behavior should be punished by denying someone food.
I understand that the open letter from Burlington businesses does not call for the elimination of the FNC lunch distribution, but where are they meant to move to? Where else in the downtown area would host FNC?
In a city that lacks any free public transportation, the location of services is absolutely critical to their availability — if FNC is forced to move away from the downtown area, the people who need access to free food the most will no longer be able to access it.
Furthermore, taking services away from the most vulnerable and poorest members of our communities harms all of us. It does not just harm the people who eat lunch every day at the parking garage, though of course it will harm them most of all; it also harms the businesses who have signed this letter.
We know that crime, especially the shoplifting that has burdened the downtown area, is directly correlated with poverty. When people do not have their basic needs met, when they are sleeping unsheltered on the sidewalk and waking up every day not knowing where their next meal will come from, they are more likely to steal to meet their needs. FNC meets one of those needs: everyone knows they can get lunch every day at the Marketplace Garage.
I do agree with the signers of the open letter on a few counts. They ask for more support to respond to mental health crises and express their desire to enjoy a safe, welcoming Burlington. We all want to live in safe communities — and when I say all, I mean most especially my community members who are unhoused and therefore extremely vulnerable to interpersonal violence.
When I feel unsafe, I know that I can go home. I can lock the door. The people I worked with at Safe Recovery, a community that I care about deeply, do not have this “privilege.”
Being unhoused is both disabling and traumatizing. Every single person I worked with there, regardless of their mental health when they became unhoused, has developed symptoms of PTSD.
It is very true that they need more mental health support, and that Burlington as a whole needs more resources to respond to these crises. I beg you to recognize that Food Not Cops is one of those resources.
When I worked at Safe Recovery, I saw every day how losing access to resources, such as free food, causes profound harm to our entire community. If we all want a safe, thriving community, we must commit ourselves to ensuring that everyone’s basic needs are met — all flourishing is mutual.
The FNC lunch program is free for both recipients and the city. This organization is not funded by taxpayers. It does not cost the community anything; all they need from Burlington is an accessible place in the downtown area where they can distribute food to anyone who needs it.
Food Not Cops is asking very little of our community and shame on us if we deny them such a low ask. Do not strip another resource away — we have already lost enough, and our neighbors are hungry. If you do not want to feed them, do not tell them how, or where, to eat.
