Food Not Bombs projects gather, cook and serve free vegan food to everyone who wants to eat at public locations in an all-volunteer, non-hierarchical, collective and decentralized fashion. Preparing and eating together in public view builds community and goes way beyond typical free food programs. There are hundreds of FNB projects around the world from tiny ones that serve once a week to huge projects that serve every day. If your town or neighborhood doesn’t have one, here are some tips you and your friends can use to start one!
At the outset, starting a Food Not Bombs might seem like more than you can handle. Work on the basics, taking one step at a time. There is no need to feel pressure to accomplish everything all at once.
STEP 1: Talk to people you know who might be interested in working with you. Pick a meeting time, gather everyone who is interested, have a pot luck and talk about what you would like to do.
STEP 2: Make flyers announcing the existence of a local FNB to attract volunteers. Schedule regular meetings and make a phone/email list of participants.
STEP 3: Arrange for transportation. You may be able to borrow a vehicle from a sympathetic organization. East Bay FNB uses a bicycle trailer. Visualize coupling carbon free transport with post-capitalist food!
STEP 4: Begin looking for sources of food. Be creative. Many groups use a combination of dumpster diving, fundraising to buy some ingredients, and doing pickups of surplus food from food co-ops, farmers markets, health food stores and community gardens.
STEP 5: Some groups start by delivering bulk food to shelters, etc.. This can give you ideas about where and when to set-up a FNB table in public. Other groups skip this step — they already know a good place to serve and just start serving.
STEP 6: Developing a regular schedule of meals (certain days at a certain time) lets people know how to find you and allows volunteers to plug in more easily.
STEP 7: Some groups use people’s home kitchen or a donated church kitchen and some use propane stoves and cook right at the site.
STEP 8: The police have frequently used health codes or other laws to stop FNB groups from serving in public. You can seek support from local activists, lawyers etc. These struggles are a great way to expose a system that would rather throw food away than allow hungry people to eat.
FNB food is typically vegan — that is, no meat, dairy, or eggs. The economic and health benefits of a vegetarian diet are directly connected to a healthy attitude about ourselves, each other and the planet as a whole. To connect with the global FNB movement, check out www.foodnotbombs.net
Food Not Bombs projects gather, cook and serve free vegan food to everyone who wants to eat at public locations in an all-volunteer, non-hierarchical, collective and decentralized fashion. Preparing and eating together in public view builds community and goes way beyond typical free food programs. There are hundreds of FNB projects around the world from tiny ones that serve once a week to huge projects that serve every day. If your town or neighborhood doesn’t have one, here are some tips you and your friends can use to start one!
At the outset, starting a Food Not Bombs might seem like more than you can handle. Work on the basics, taking one step at a time. There is no need to feel pressure to accomplish everything all at once.
STEP 1: Talk to people you know who might be interested in working with you. Pick a meeting time, gather everyone who is interested, have a pot luck and talk about what you would like to do.
STEP 2: Make flyers announcing the existence of a local FNB to attract volunteers. Schedule regular meetings and make a phone/email list of participants.
STEP 3: Arrange for transportation. You may be able to borrow a vehicle from a sympathetic organization. East Bay FNB uses a bicycle trailer. Visualize coupling carbon free transport with post-capitalist food!
STEP 4: Begin looking for sources of food. Be creative. Many groups use a combination of dumpster diving, fundraising to buy some ingredients, and doing pickups of surplus food from food co-ops, farmers markets, health food stores and community gardens.
STEP 5: Some groups start by delivering bulk food to shelters, etc.. This can give you ideas about where and when to set-up a FNB table in public. Other groups skip this step — they already know a good place to serve and just start serving.
STEP 6: Developing a regular schedule of meals (certain days at a certain time) lets people know how to find you and allows volunteers to plug in more easily.
STEP 7: Some groups use people’s home kitchen or a donated church kitchen and some use propane stoves and cook right at the site.
STEP 8: The police have frequently used health codes or other laws to stop FNB groups from serving in public. You can seek support from local activists, lawyers etc. These struggles are a great way to expose a system that would rather throw food away than allow hungry people to eat.
FNB food is typically vegan — that is, no meat, dairy, or eggs. The economic and health benefits of a vegetarian diet are directly connected to a healthy attitude about ourselves, each other and the planet as a whole. To connect with the global FNB movement, check out www.foodnotbombs.net