Irony alert: OWS's 'socialist' kitchen refuses to feed the poor

A makeshift kitchen at Zuccatti Park: Some Occupy Wall Streeters are reportedly tired of shelling out their organic goods to the homeless parading as protesters.

(Image credit: CC BY: david_shankbone)

last updated 8 January 2015

The story: The New York Post reports that the Occupy Wall Street volunteer kitchen staff is tired of having to feed "professional homeless" people and others posing as protesters so they can eat for free at Zuccotti Park. To "show they mean business," the Post says, OWS cooks shut down for two hours on Thursday. Then for three days starting Friday, the cooks will only offer brown rice and other basics instead of their tasty typical fare (organic chicken, roasted beets, sheep-milk-cheese salad). Protest organizers maintain that the slowdown is merely intended to free up time for kitchen workers to expand their operation. But a security worker tells the Post the cooks are feeling "overworked and under appreciated," and plan to redirect vagrants to nearby soup kitchens.

The reaction: This is rich, says NewsBusters. The Occupy Wall Street mob is all for "wealth redistribution" until somebody asks them to share. Then they forget all about their "socialist principles." Such "sweet, sweet irony," chimes in William Teach at Pirate's Cove. Don't misconstrue this, Occupy Wall Street spokesman Patrick Bruner tells Gothamist. The People's Kitchen of Occupy Wall Street feeds 1,200 people at every meal, and simply needs a few days to regroup. "Food will still be available for anyone who wants it." Well, the cooks' reported frustration is "hardly surprising," says Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway. They've been working themselves ragged for a month and a half, and it's "still completely unclear" just what they, and the rest of the OWS movement, are really fighting for.