Cover art for Starting A Food Not Bombs by C.T. Butler

Starting A Food Not Bombs

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Starting A Food Not Bombs Lyrics

Taking personal responsibility and doing something about the problems of our society can be both empowering and intimidating. Voting for the best candidate or giving money to your favorite charity are worthwhile activities but many people want to do more. What to do and how to get started is hard to discover, especially with social problems as large as homelessness, hunger, and militarism. This handbook is will assist you in getting started on a path towards taking personal direct action on these issues.

Above all, the Food Not Bombs experience is an opportunity for self-empowerment. In addition to the obvious political message we are trying to convey, the two major components of the day to day work of Food Not Bombs are the recovery and redistribution of surplus food, and the feeding of the hungry. Political organizing is more rewarding if it produces both greater political awareness and direct service.

At every step along the way, you will be faced with many choices; some we will describe in this handbook, but others will be unique to your situation. You will need to make the decisions for yourselves which are the best for your local operation. We can tell you from our experience that it will be both hard work and a lot of fun, and we will try to share with you those things we have learned which might both assist you and help you avoid problems we have already encountered. This handbook is a beginning point from which to take off on your own adventure. This handbook is based on more than ten years of experience, but that does not give us all the answers. Every day brings more challenges and new learning opportunities. The Food Not Bombs experience is a living, dynamic adventure which expands with every person who participates in it. Even today, as more and more Food Not Bombs groups start in other cities, we are discovering that each group brings with it new ideas, new visions, and new ways of developing its own identity. This handbook contains only the most basic information necessary for you to start your group on its way.

Seven Steps to Organizing a Local Food Not Bombs

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 pressured into accomplishing everything all at once. It might take a couple of weeks to get things rolling, or it may take months. One person cannot be a Food Not Bombs group, but one person can be the "starter" of one group.

Once you have made the decision to start a local Food Not Bombs group, pick a meeting date, time, and place and gather together everyone interested to talk about what you would like to do. You might start with a group of friends, or members of an existing group, or it could be people who respond to posters announcing your intentions.

The following is a step-by-step process to get your food operation up and running. Because of your unique situation, you may need to add, ignore or reorder steps. Follow the path you feel will work best for your group.

Step 1: Start by getting a phone number and a mailing address. By using either a voice mailbox or an answering machine, you can have an outgoing message with information about the next meeting time and place, and receive messages so that you never miss a call. Likewise, use a commercial mailbox or post office box for your permanent address.

Step 2: Make flyers announcing the existence of a local Food Not Bombs. By handing them out at events, posting them around town, or mailing them to your friends, you will get additional volunteers. It is helpful to have regularly scheduled weekly meetings and always know the date of the next one.

Step 3: Arrange for the use of a vehicle. Among the members of your group, there might be enough vehicles of the right size for your needs, but if not, you might be able to borrow a van or truck from a sympathetic church group or similar organization. If you are very lucky, you could be able to find someone to donate one to you. If none of the above succeeds, you can always hold fund-raising events specifically for the purchase of a van.

Step 4: With flyers in hand, begin looking for sources of food. The first places to approach are the local food co-ops and health food stores. These types of stores tend to be supportive and are a good place to practice your approach. Tell them you plan to give the food to shelters and soup kitchens to feed hungry people, and if they are interested and willing, arrange for a regular time to pick up the food each day or as often as is practical. Where it is appropriate, leave literature which explains what Food Not Bombs does.

Step 5: Deliver your collected food to shelters and meal kitchens. It is important to get to know the food pantries and soup kitchens in your area. Learn where they are located, whom they serve, and how many they serve. This information will help you plan your delivery route and distribute the appropriate types and amounts of food to each program. It is usually desirable to arrange a regular delivery schedule with each kitchen.

Step 6: Once this network becomes established, start to skim some food out of the flow without disrupting the program. With this food, prepare meals to serve on the streets. Go to rallies and demonstrations first; there your group can recruit more volunteers, collect donations, and lift the spirits of those at the event. Giving out meals at a rally builds community and supports the cause in a very direct way.
Step 7: Once enough people are involved, consider serving meals in a visible way one day a week to the homeless on the street. Cooking and serving food there builds community within the group and is hard work, but this is also great fun. Pick highly visible locations because. part of our mission is to help make the "invisible homeless" more visible. We also want to reach out to everyone with our political message of "food not bombs" and we want to be very accessible.

The "Office"

In general, it is the Food Not Bombs style to operate on as low a financial level as possible. Always strive to get the most out of your resources. One way to keep operating expenses low is to use only a mailbox and answering service as your office. Thus, by not having a standing office, there is no need to use valuable volunteer time staffing it. This allows the volunteers to spend more time on the street, and our tables, whether serving meals or distributing information, become the "office" where group business is conducted and where people who want to meet us can find us.

One of our goals for doing street work is to bring people with different economic backgrounds directly into contact with each other. If your office is on the street, then you are very accessible, and all your actions are public. The people who are forced to live on the streets will, over time, develop a great deal of respect for your group, and you will experience directly a piece of street life and you will develop firsthand knowledge of the popular opinions on the issues of the day. The cost for establishing this part of the Food Not Bombs operation is affordable for any group.

Decision Making and Leadership

Another goal of Food Not Bombs is the creation of opportunities for self-empowerment. The way to do this within the group is to create an environment where every member is encouraged to participate in decision-making, take initiative, and fill the various roles necessary for smooth functioning of the group.

We make decisions by consensus rather than voting. Voting is a win or lose model in which people are more concerned about the numbers it takes to win a majority than they are in the issue itself. Consensus, on the other hand, is a process of synthesis, bringing together diverse elements and blending them into a decision which is acceptable to the entire group. In essence, it is a qualitative rather than quantitative method of decision-making. Each person's ideas are valued and become part of the decision.

When everyone participates in the discussion of an idea, trust is developed and people feel valued and committed to the result. A proposal is stronger when everyone works together to create the best possible decision for the group. Any idea can be considered, but only those ideas which everyone thinks are in the best interests of the group are adopted.

There are several models of consensus which your group might choose to adopt. It is most important, however, that whatever process you use is clear, consistent, and able to be easily taught and learned so that all can participate fully. (See bibliography in the appendix)

Many progressive groups avoid having leaders who might dominate the group. However, it is a mistake to think a group does not need leadership roles. To avoid having power concentrated in the hands of a few entrenched leaders, encourage leadership skills in every member of the group and rotate all roles. This can be accomplished by holding skill-building trainings and by encouraging and supporting people to be self-empowered, especially those who are generally reserved. This helps the the group become more democratic and helps individuals feel more satisfied and, therefore, less likely to burn-out or fade away..

Outreach

Outreach is very important, less expensive and more effective than you might imagine. The appendix of this book has a recruiting flyer you can use that has been effective in attracting new people to Food Not Bombs. You can use this copy by putting your phone number and address in the appropriate spots, or you can create your own. This and other flyers can then be put on bulletin boards in local schools, cafes, health food stores, bookstores, and launderettes. Post recruitment flyers on a regular basis; it is good to continually bring in new people with fresh ideas and enthusiasm.

In addition to posting flyers in public spaces, visit all the peace and justice organizations in your community. Leave your flyers and collect their literature to place on your own information table.
Also go to all the soup kitchens, pantries, shelters, and advocacy groups for those suffering from economic injustice and distribute your literature. Don't be discouraged by a lukewarm reception. At first, these groups might view Food Not Bombs as competition for scarce resources, or they may be strongly opposed to connecting the issues of hunger, homelessness and economic injustice with other political issues such as militarism. Many direct service agencies accept the role of care-giver to those most oppressed in our society without challenging the root causes of that oppression. They prefer to keep a low profile and support the status quo and they will be very fearful of anyone who does challenge the system. However, because the vision of Food Not Bombs is the creation of abundance by recovering surplus food, your free food will be a way to reach out to them and gradually win their support. This kind of outreach will become the foundation of widespread community support that could be very valuable to your group in the future.

As your effort grows, you can organize and sponsor special events which will attract more folks to join in the work and the fun. Examples of these kinds of events are concerts, poetry readings, rallies, lectures, and film festivals. Before these events, be sure to call all the press listed in the yellow pages in your town and invite them to come. Even though the coverage can sometimes be unsympathetic, it is still valuable to have Food Not Bombs mentioned in the press. In our experience, most people understand the concept "food not bombs" and are not misled by negative reporting.

At these events, a special attention-grabber is the display of a huge banner proclaiming "Food Not Bombs". This banner is very useful when the media is taking pictures, because, if nothing else, the words "Food Not Bombs" will be displayed. You can use the Food Not Bombs logo of a purple fist holding a carrot as much as you want. Our national office has buttons, bumper stickers, t-shirts, and banners with this logo for you to use for fund-raising and promotion. (See national contact list in the appendix.)

Food Collection

Food recovery is the backbone of the Food Not Bombs operation. Discovering sources of surplus food might at first appear to be a major challenge, but mostly, it just takes confidence and patience. Every business in the food industry is a potential source of recoverable food, from wholesale to retail, and from production to distribution. Sometimes it may take some creativity and persistence to convince a stubborn manager to allow you to have some "waste" food, but, in most instances, the businesses will be very cooperative.

You will need to decide if you want the business owners or managers to know that some of the food will be used for political organizing or the name of your group, Food Not Bombs. At some stores, this will not be an issue; at others, it might be better left unsaid until they get to know you better.

Start by making arrangements to collect food at organic produce warehouses, bakeries, and natural food stores. Ask the workers at these businesses if they have any edible food that they regularly throw away and, if so, that they would they be willing to give to you. Be sure to point out to them that by collecting this food, you will be saving them money on their waste disposal bill. They will certainly be aware of how expensive it is to have this surplus hauled away as waste and of how costs keep growing each year as more and more landfills become exhausted. One of the by-products of our program is the reduction of waste in our society.

While in the process of collecting contacts in the food industry, you should also be determining the availability of drivers and vehicles. There needs to be at least one volunteer to drive each day. Make a schedule which is convenient to both store and driver. It is important to be flexible but also reliable: businesses will be hesitant to participate if they do not feel they can rely on this "waste" removal method on a regular basis. It is a tradition with Food Not Bombs to always be on time; therefore, do not overextend yourself. It is actually more common to get too much food than not enough; but only do as much as is comfortable. After all, some recovery of food is better than no recovery at all.

Also, Take time to make friends with the workers at the sites where food is collected. These workers make the day-to-day decisions about how much food is recovered, and they can make an effort to recover even more food if they feel comfortable with you.

The variety of food that can be recovered is unlimited. Be creative. Any perishable food is going to be intentionally over-stocked, so there will be a regular surplus destined to be wasted. Look for sources of surplus bagels, bread and pastries, organic fruits and vegetables, tofu, and some packaged foods. Sometimes you might need to buy non-perishables like rice, beans, miso, condiments, and spices at natural foods stores, but these stores will often supply these for free.

Eventually, work your way up to collecting at warehouses, farms, and wholesale distributors. The volume of food available to recover is immense, but be selective. Take what you can use from the highest quality. In many places, there is no need to recover commercial produce because there is plenty of organic produce to recover! In fact, one of our political messages is that there is more edible food being thrown away each day by the food industry than there are hungry people to eat it.

Food Distribution

At first, deliver the bulk food you collect to soup kitchens and pantries in your area. From your earlier research and contacts, it is likely you will already know which kitchens are interested in receiving this food. Also deliver bulk food to food pantries, striking workers, day-care centers, battered women's shelters, refugees, and the like. Contact organizations already working directly in the community, and ask if their staff would take responsibility for equitable distribution of free food once a week. Since they already have a base of operations in the community, their staff know the people in need, how great their need is, and how best to distribute it to them. Encourage them to use the free food distribution program as a way to increase participation in their other programs; use the food as an organizing tool. Sometimes Food Not Bombs organizes distribution of bulk food at housing projects or on street corners, but you might also give out bulk food along with the prepared meal at your food tables. One of our goals is to encourage the awareness of the food's abundance as well as the undermining of the market of scarcity that places profits before people.
The Kitchen

Once you have this network of collection and distribution in operation, begin using some of the recovered food to prepare hot meals. You will need to find a kitchen to use, and several pieces of equipment which are necessary for feeding large numbers of people that are not found in the average kitchen. A full equipment list can be found in the Recipes section.

There are several methods of finding suitable kitchen space. Sometimes it is possible to arrange to use the kitchen in a community center, place of worship, or public building. A large kitchen in a collective house or a number of average-size kitchens also might be sufficient, but sometimes cooking right on the street in a field kitchen is the best solution. Each situation has its advantages and disadvantages, and the demands of your meal distribution program will determine your kitchen needs. Often, a combination of kitchen spaces is necessary for different aspects of your schedule. You might use a church kitchen for your weekly meal to the homeless, a field kitchen for a large rally in a park, and a volunteers' kitchen for a catered lunch. The key is in finding the right size kitchen for each event.

Since most Food Not Bombs groups do some amount of cooking outdoors, it is a good idea to acquire a camp stove. Propane seems to be the best fuel for the cooking in field kitchens. The tanks can be refilled, and even the smaller ones last a long time on one filling. It is worthwhile to obtain a strong, heavy-duty stove, ans while it might cost more, it will last longer and will be safer with large pots. This and all the other equipment needed for food preparation and serving can be obtained from restaurant supply stores, thrift stores, yard sales, kitchen auctions, and friends. (See the appendix under Equipment Lists for more details.)

In general, the most important pieces of equipment is the cooking pots. You will need all different sizes, but the most valuable are the very large pots of 40 quarts or more. A couple of hundred people generally can be fed from a pot this size, depending upon what is prepared in it, but these pots are hard to come by. Most people who have pots this size will not loan them out. The cheapest pots to buy are aluminum, but we discourage their use because of toxicity. If you must use aluminum pots, never prepare miso or tomato-based recipes in them- the aluminum will corrode and leach into the food. Try to have stainless-steel pots donated to you, and once you have a collection of pots and lids, be very careful with them. It is not uncommon to lose pots between the kitchen and the vehicle or between the vehicle and the serving table. Also, try to avoid having the pots in a situation which might lead to arrest. Transfer the food into smaller, less valuable pots or plastic buckets for these times.

Another valuable piece of equipment is the 5 gallon plastic bucket. These can usually be obtained free from natural food stores and co-ops. Ask them to save and give you peanut-butter buckets, tofu buckets, and other large plastic containers in which food is delivered in and that they do not need or have to return. Don't forget to collect the lids, too. These containers are valuable for food storage, transportation, and serving, and they can also be used for many other purposes. Because they are fairly easy to get, they also are good to use in situations where you cannot be sure they will be returned to you.

Food Preparation

The major issue to address when considering preparing food at low cost for large amounts of people is one of logistics. Getting the proper amount of food, the necessary equipment, a suitable kitchen, and the cooking team all together at the same time might sometimes seem like a miracle, but it can be done. Each local chapter will develop its own method of food preparation; the following is a general guide.

The volunteer cooking team usually meets at the kitchen a few hours before the meal is scheduled to be served. They often help unload the food and equipment from the Food Not Bombs vehicle. Always wash your hands with soap before cooking, and plan the menu by looking at what food you have and how many people you are planning to feed. Sort out all the useful food and wash it. (The most time-consuming job in this process is washing and cutting the vegetables.)

Each cooking team usually operates with whatever style of management that is comfortable to them. Sometimes, one person becomes "the head cook" for the whole team and at other times, each person takes one dish and prepares it from start to finish. The team may also choose to do everything cooperatively. The recipes you use can be ones you already know or they can be from the recipe chapter of this book. Once the meal is prepared, the cooking team cleans the kitchen, packages the food for transportation, and loads it into the Food Not Bombs vehicle for delivery to the serving site.

Sometimes the serving team and the cooking team are the same people; usually they are different. The serving team arrives at the serving site and organizes the food distribution and the staffing of the literature table. Always try to have a hand-washing bucket with soap and rinse bucket with just a little bleach, so the volunteers can wash their hands before serving. Try to keep the food away from the literature. If a long line develops, have someone go up and down the line and hand out bread or muffins or maybe something to drink on hot days, so the wait is not too unbearable. This also helps reduce the tension created by fear that the food might run out. If you can find musicians or other street performers to come and perform while you're serving, this will also reduce tensions and create a very positive, festive atmosphere. The serving team is also responsible for cleaning up both the site and the equipment and returning the equipment to wherever it is stored.

The collection of cash donations at the food table is an ongoing debate. Sometimes it is completely out of place to ask for donations, but in other situations, people insist on being allowed to contribute to the collective work. In any event, always encourage the idea that everyone can have as much food as they want without regard to their ability to pay for it. Food is a right, not a privilege.

Outdoor Tables and Field Kitchens

At every outdoor event, the first decision the group needs to make is where to place the tables, and there are many important issues to consider. If possible, look at the location ahead of time. At demonstrations, having the food table as close as possible to the focal point of the demonstration has been very successful. Being close to the action encourages people to stay involved and not drift away. Sometimes the most desirable location is the one with the most foot traffic. Other times, it is the most visible, accessible location for people without homes. It is always a good idea, however, to be sensitive to nearby restaurants and vendors with similar types of food; they might complain and have your operation shutdown if they feel it is in competition with theirs.

The following diagrams offer two possible layouts of your field kitchen. One is more basic, involving a minimum of equipment. The other involves more equipment and would be able to pass a health department inspection in most cities. In general, Food Not Bombs believes that our work does not require any permits. However, the city or the police often use the permit issue as a way to attempt to harass you and shut you down. Therefore, it is sometimes a good idea to have a fully equipped field kitchen. There may still be attempts to shut you down, but you can point out that it is not a health but a political issue which they are raising. It is the Food Not Bombs position that we have a right to give away free food anytime, anywhere, without any permission from the state.

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