Houston’s law, which was passed in 2012, states that any group that wishes to feed five or more people must get special permission from a property owner to do so, even if the feeding event takes place on public property. The law went virtually unenforced until March 2023, when the first ticket to a FNB volunteer was issued.
I have some history with the Orlando Florida Food Not Bombs. A decade or so ago Orlando tried an anti-homeless-feeding law which had similar goals. That goal is to stop secular folks from feeding the homeless - the local churches in Orlando were upset that there was food being given out that didn’t also force feed Jesus. And the scary leftist politics make FNB an easy target for neoliberals. One of the guys I knew in Orlando pointed out how on veterans day they were literally the only ones out feeding the homeless veterans. Orlando’s law led to at least one arrest, but iirc the courts found the law to be unconstitutional.
I have some history with the Orlando Florida Food Not Bombs. A decade or so ago Orlando tried an anti-homeless-feeding law which had similar goals. That goal is to stop secular folks from feeding the homeless - the local churches in Orlando were upset that there was food being given out that didn’t also force feed Jesus. And the scary leftist politics make FNB an easy target for neoliberals. One of the guys I knew in Orlando pointed out how on veterans day they were literally the only ones out feeding the homeless veterans. Orlando’s law led to at least one arrest, but iirc the courts found the law to be unconstitutional.