by Susan MacVittie
When feeding hungry people free food in a public space is against the law and those doing so are criminalized and face incarceration, we are no longer living in interesting times, but desperate times indeed.
I am speaking of the grassroots group, Food Not Bombs (FNB), who have been feeding people free homecooked vegan food in parks around North America and beyond since the early 1980s.
Harassment is nothing new to FNB volunteerorganizers who have been threatened and arrested in various cities, but with the introduction of the Terrorist Act in the United States, and the inclusion of FNB on the US FBI terrorist watch list has had a chilling effect on FNB volunteers. Reasons for shutting down FNB from serving food range from mayors who don’t want unsightly homeless people gathering in parks or town squares and police that want to be proactive before something ‘disruptive’ happens, to FBI raids on FNB offices and volunteers’ homes because of activities such as anti-WTO protesting. Getting arrested for serving food brings new meaning to the term ‘food activism.’
Stirring It Up
Food Not Bombs began in 1980 when seven anti-nuclear activists in Cambridge, Massachusetts decided that distributing food could be a great way to organize for peace, the environment and social justice. They recovered surplus food that couldn’t be sold from grocery stores, bakers and food manufacturers and distributed it to housing projects, daycare centres, and battered women’s shelters. They also prepared vegetarian meals and shared it along with their literature at protests.
Over the course of the past 28 years, Food Not Bombs has spread across the globe and people in cities and towns from Paris to the Philippines organize, collect and serve food to hungry people. As a grassroots initiative, there are no leaders and no central organizing body, but each chapter of FNB generally shares principles that play an important role in the success of the movement: a commitment to non-violent action, sharing free vegetarian food to anyone without restriction, and making decisions by participatory democracy or consensus.
What is unique about this group, and perhaps has added to their survival, transcends across cultures and political ideologies – it’s survival instinct – our stomach does not discern from a pea for peace or a radical rhubarb. Sharing food is a unifying act and for those who serve meals to the hungry, it’s empowering to feed people free food that has been gathered or donated from the community.
A Generous Helping
In BC volunteers serve food under the ‘Food Not Bombs’ banner in various communities including Vancouver, Victoria, Courtenay and Campbell River.
On a Sunday afternoon in Courtenay you can find Sam, Andy and friends serving up nutritious meals to folks on the lawn in front of the Courtenay Court House. When Sam began serving food two years ago she thought the Food Not Bombs ideology suited her purpose although the group affiliation is not as important to her as feeding people who need it. The food is cooked off site at a friend’s house and then donated tables and a tent are set up. Depending on what kind of food has been donated, the vegan menu can range from soup and salad to rice and veggies. These days Sam serves between 15-40 people and says about 100 people rotate through as regulars.
“A lot of people have recently found themselves homeless. One fellow told me that he wasn’t a homeless person, but when he lost his job he couldn’t afford his rent and is now living in a tent.”
While the FNB groups in other cities might be able to rescue discarded food thrown in dumpsters by the larger grocery stores, doing so in Courtenay is limited. Dumpsters have been replaced with compacters that crush otherwise re-usable food such as bruised fruit, wilted vegetables and dented cans. Bringing attention to how we waste food that could be used to feed the hungry is another core issue highlighted by Food Not Bombs.
To keep going through the winter Sam would appreciate any donations – cooking oil, spices, dried beans, pasta, and condiments, or the money to buy them. So far, the arm of the law for the Courtenay FNB crew, is nothing more than the shadow of the Courtenay Courthouse casting itself on people eating in the park on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
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For more info or to donate contact Sam: fnbcourtenay@yahoo.ca Food Not Bombs www.foodnotbombs.net
[From WS November/December 2008]