Food Not Bombs: An Owl interview
Food Not Bombs is the name of many independent organizations working similarly in a global movement. Each franchise works collectively to redistribute surplus food as an act of solidarity and protest. John Whelehan is one of many people working with Food not Bombs in Rochester. Owl Light News talks with them about the work done in Rochester.
-Interviewed by Kade Bentley
”By viewing food as a right rather than a privilege, Food Not Bombs not only challenges our current food system, but models how things can be done differently –
and essentially how communities can work together to take care of each other and ourselves.”
Owl: So FNB is a movement, right? How would you summarize the mission of the movement?
John: “I’d say Food Not Bombs is a movement, yeah. A direct action phenomenon that happens all over the world! Food not bombs started in 1980 in Cambridge, MA, as a direct opposition to the impeding threat of nuclear war. Since then, chapters have popped up all over the world, and they all operate similarly.
The basic principle of food not bombs a view of poverty and hunger as forms of violence. When food is a commodity, it creates barriers to access for many folks. By viewing food as a right rather than a privilege, Food Not Bombs not only challenges our current food system, but models how things can be done differently – and essentially how communities can work together to take care of each other and ourselves.
Food Not Bombs chapters collect food headed to the landfills, and turn it into productive meals which are served for free in public spaces. This is done in protest of war, and the uneven distribution of power and resources under capitalism.” [In Rochester]…“We practice the same principles. We have no hierarchy or formal leadership. Decisions are made collaboratively.”
Owl: What makes FNB different than a “soup kitchen?”
John “One of the principles of FNB is ‘Solidarity, not charity.’ As a direct action group, We’re actively engaged and plugged into many different aspects of the bigger picture. For example, rather than just passively providing free food, we’re creating community. At our meal shares, everybody works together and eats together. This meal share creates an atmosphere where folks are able to learn and share ideas about healthy cooking and eating, recipes, resources etc. We’re creating a community and collaborating to support one another with regards to food. We’re breaking down barriers and creating new opportunities.”
Owl: Who are the folks you serve?
John: “Our food is always free and open to the public, without any barriers to access. Lots of folks from the neighborhood come out to eat. Volunteers eat with community members during the meal share.”
Owl: What’s the history of the Rochester group?
John “Rochester has had many different iterations of food not bombs chapters over the last 20 years or more! The current group has been cooking together regularly for 3 or 4 years.
We currently meet up at Saint Joseph’s House of Hospitality around 3:30 on Saturdays to Cook. Serve food in the park from 6-7. And clean up from 7-8.”
Owl: How does FnBs support “food justice?”
John “We support food justice first by preventing a lot of perfectly good food from entering the landfills. It takes a lot of resources to produce our food – And then to waste that food is just absurd, especially when there are folks going without.
This reclaimed food is then redistributed – some of it, turned into meals which are served for free, some of it is given away at meal shares as groceries. Some food is sent to local shelters and soup kitchens. This food that would have been discarded is now being shared with folks who may not have had access to it otherwise.”
Owl: When does your group serve and where?
John “Saturdays at 6:00 – Nathaniel Square park in Rochester
(Corner of South Ave and Alexander)
We are also currently helping cook. the Saturday Night meal for the Shelter at Saint Joseph’s House of Hospitality. We occasionally serve meals at events hosted by local activist groups.”
Owl: How many people do you serve each week?
John “Our serves every week are a little different, fluctuating between 10-40. Beginning of the month, weather etc. tend to be factors.”
Owl: How is the food sourced and prepared?
John “All of our work is volunteer based. We source most of our produce and bread through Flower City Pickers at the public market. Occasionally we get donations from other local groups, restaurants and organizations. We also have a budget for staples like rice, oil, spices etc.”
Owl: How many people does it take to organize, prepare, and serve each week?
John “Our volunteer base fluctuates quite a bit. There is a core group of maybe 10-12 folks who are pretty regularly involved, and lots of folks who come and go a bit more randomly. I’d say it takes about 8 folks to make everything go pretty smooth between picking up the donations, cooking, cleaning, and serving… That being said, some weeks we have 3 volunteers, and other weeks we have 15!!”
Owl: Are there other programs that the group is affiliated with?
John “We Collaborate with Flower City Pickers, who work out of the Rochester public Market. They do a market-wide sweep, collecting all the discarded food, working to redistribute the food that it still good and useable, while composting the rest. The Pickers supply us with a majority of our produce and bread that we use for cooks and serves as well as distributions.
We also work with Saint Joes’ house of hospitality. They allow us to use their kitchen to cook in, and in turn, we help provide some of the food for Saturday night shelter meals.”
Owl: What other programs or efforts are individual members affiliated with or interested in?
John “A lot of the folks in our group are very involved in local activist work.”
Rochester Food Not Bombs collaborates with:
“Feed People, Not Landfills”
” Flower City Pickers
is a secular, all inclusive group of volunteers that redistributes leftover and discarded produce from Rochester’s Public Market to local homeless shelters, halfway houses, soup kitchens, food pantries, and other organizations with need for food.”- www.flowercitypickers.com
Look for our bus located inside the Rochester Public Market
near Pennsylvania and 1st Street.
Admin@FlowerCityPickers.com
(585) 616-8051
Saturdays 1:30pm-3:30pm (times may vary)
and
“Saint Joseph’s House of Hospitality
is located in Rochester, New York. It is a Rochester Catholic Worker community which provides food, clothing, shelter and spiritually-centered care to its guests.
We share a firm belief in the God-given dignity of every human person; and we are committed to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, and the Works of Mercy as a way of life.”
www.saintjoeshouse.org
Street Address:
402 South Ave
Rochester, NY 14620
Phone: 585-232-3262