By Kolby R. LaMarche
During a protest on Monday organized by Food Not Cops—a mutual-aid organization that provides free meals to community members—Sam Bliss, an economics professor at the University of Vermont (UVM), told a crowd that ‘everybody shoplifts.’
Speaking to a crowd on Church Street in front of City Hall about the concerns of business owners, who earlier this month signed a letter to Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, Bliss declared, “I’ve done bad things, we all have. And [businesses] are also concerned about f—–g shoplifting, and first of all, what I’m going to say there is, everybody f—–g shoplifts!”
Bliss has been a key figure in Food Not Cops since before joining UVM’s Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, where he now teaches. His activism predates his academic career, with deep roots in Burlington’s Food Not Bombs chapter, a nationwide collective focused on sharing free meals made from edible but unsellable food.
According to an interview with the Green Mountain Democratic Socialists of America (GMDSA), Bliss recounted how he and housemates revived the local chapter in 2018 by preparing a large meal for UVM’s Feverish World event, notably without university approval.
That November, Food Not Bombs began serving free Sunday meals at City Hall Park. “We want to share food with everyone, as equals. Food is a gift, not a commodity,” Bliss told GMDSA. When the park closed for renovations last summer, the group relocated to the base of Church Street, continuing their mission to feed the community without charge.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bliss, fellow organizer Emma Schoenberg, and others expanded their efforts, partnering with BTV Copwatch to distribute sandwiches, masks, hand sanitizer, cash, and other essentials in a downtown parking garage. At that time, local businesses, including August First, Barrio Bakery, and the Horticulture Farm, donated food, while others like Barr Hill Distillery provided sanitizers.
Bliss’s dissertation explores “non-market food practices” like gardening, foraging, and food sharing, which he not only studies but actively practices in Vermont. Bliss is also a member of Marxist Jargon, a Burlington-based anti-capitalist education initiative. In 2022, the group produced a musical play about revolution and rediscovering home.
Recent developments suggest UVM may be reevaluating its association with Bliss’s public image. Webpages detailing his work and profile, once hosted on UVM’s site, were removed this month, according to online records.
Cached digital information confirms his role in the Department of Community Development and Applied Economics and numerous content pieces, written by UVM, promoting his activism with Food Not Cops.
In a commentary submitted to VTDigger this month, Bliss doubled down on his defense of Food Not Cops, writing, “The letter from the business class says that our lunch ‘has had a negative impact on the area.’ I think they’re wrong: Food Not Cops makes downtown safer.”
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