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Food Not Bombs!
- Yael Grauer
Imagine a long line of homeless and hungry people waiting for a free meal. You've probably seen this sight before. But this time, before you avert your eyes, CCCO's logo might jump out at you. That's because many Food Not Bombs chapters have taken on the task of distributing counter-recruitment literature.
Not charity but empowerment
Food Not Bombs is no ordinary soup kitchen. In addition to sharing free vegetarian food, this grassroots political organization is dedicated to fighting war and poverty and advocating for systemic social change. "We distribute literature as well as food during servings because we want to emphasize the direct connection between poverty, militarism and economic inequality," says Chris Crass, a member of San Francisco Food Not Bombs. "Food Not Bombs worksto get information out to people so that we can have a society where people don't need to go to soup kitchens."
Local and global goals
Eight anti-nuclear activists in Boston started Food Not Bombs over 19 years ago. It has since grown to over 200 organizations worldwide. Each chapter is autonomous, non-hierarchical, and has a consensus-based decision-making process. Many agree on the ongoing need to counter militarism. Most are committed to nonviolence, because, according to the SF Food Not Bombs Statement of Non-Violence, "Our society needs things that give life, not things that give death." War, the threat of war, and poverty are all considered forms of violence. Keith McHenry, the organization's co-founder, explains: "By serving free food we've shown that there's an abundance of resources and that if our national priorities were directed toward human needs instead of the military there'd be no more homelessness or poverty."
After the bombing of Yugoslavia, SF Food Not Bombs responded with a flier entitled "Partners in Crime" which described the horrid actions of both Clinton and Milosevic while advocating for peace, justice and self-determination. Members spent days and nights putting together enormous informational panels about the effects of the attacks, which were displayed at servings and anti-war rallies. They also hosted an Anti-War Cafe Night. This event featured music, poetry, spoken word and a variety of speakers from anti-war organizations, including CCCO's very own Chris Lombardi. Meanwhile, Fresno Food Not Bombs members organized a Cultural Coffeehouse with spoken word and dancing, where I spoke briefly about our counter-recruitment work. At servings in Asheville, North Carolina, Edgewater, Florida and Boston, Massachusetts, Food Not Bombs members have given out CCCO literature, and taken on the task of getting counter-recruitment literature into cafes, info-shops, high schools and into the hands of young people, as well as distributing our by-youth, for-youth 'zine, AWOL.
Volunteers for change
Since the money spent by the world on weapons in one week is enough to feed all the people on Earth for a year, Food Not Bombs asks the fundamental question: When millions of people go hungry each day, how can we spend another dollar on war?
Food donations come from various warehouses and grocery stores that would otherwise throw it out. Volunteers pick it up, cook it, bike-cart or drive it over, serve it and compost the leftovers. "Revolution is marked by the redistribution of food from the haves to the have-nots," says Patrick Ragsdale, Asheville Food Not Bombs member.
The food is often served in highly visible locations to draw attention to homelessness and hunger, to reclaim public space for the public, as well as to protest militarism. As Johnna Bossuot, of SF Food Not Bombs, says, "By focusing our efforts on taking care of each other and helping each other cooperatively indeed we are creating the seeds of a more just, peaceful and happier world through love. Love is the only way we can have true peace."¦
Yael Grauer, a student at Shimer College and Summer 1999 CCCO intern, is editor of STARLIGHT and leader of workshops on feminism and activism. If you'd like more information about Food Not Bombs, check out www.foodnotbombs.org, or
home.earthlink.net/~foodnotbombs. |