Food Not Bombs is an effort to feed anyone who is hungry. The group calls attention to poverty and homelessness in Hampton Roads and elsewhere in society by sharing food in public places and facilitating gatherings of poor, homeless and other disenfranchised people. There are four tenets to the Food Not Bombs philosophy:
* Recycling of (redistribution of otherwise unwanted/unneeded) food
* Decision making by consensus
* Nonviolence
* Vegetarianism
Each Food Not Bombs chapter collects surplus food that would otherwise go to waste from grocery stores, bakeries, markets, and other members of their communities and then prepares it into community meals which are served for free to anyone who is hungry. The central beliefs of the group are:
* Accepting free food from a friend or a stranger when you are hungry is a human right.
* If governments and corporations around the world spent as much time and energy on feeding people as they do on war, no one would go hungry.
* There is enough food in the world to feed everyone, but so much of it goes to waste needlessly, as a direct result of capitalism and militarism.
* Vegetarian food is, healthy, non-violent, and a more efficient means of receiving nutrition.
One important reason why Food Not Bombs does not serve animal-derived foods is that it would be hypocritical to do so--It takes 16 pounds of grain (which can be made into breads, pastas, "wheat meats," etc.) to produce one pound of flesh, while people go hungry around Hampton Roads and the world. Valuable farming lands in 3rd world countries often grow crops not for the hungry neighbors but to feed the animals inefficiently slaughtered for those in wealthier nations. Please CLICK HERE to read more about how meat means misery for the world's hungry.
At Food Not Bombs, anyone who wants to cook may cook, and anyone who wants to eat may eat. Food Not Bombs strives to include everyone.
The Food Not Bombs Norfolk crew includes/has included a wide variety of members, from anarchists to NRA members; atheists to devout Christians; vegan animal rights activists to hunters; and so on. Everyone truly is welcome!
Wish List:
* Food
If you work at/run/have connections to a restaurant or market/store or other food supplier, we are always looking for connections to picking up food which is perfectly good but won't be sold. (For example, goods which have reached the "sell-by" date and which cannot be sold, but which certainly are not expired.)
* Cups
We need plastic cups. For example, if you host a party, hold off before sending the beer or soda cups to the landfill. Please consider washing them for us so that we can reuse them, saving our funds as well as cutting down a bit on waste! (And if you can't wash them, we'll do it!)
* Take-out and other containers
Same principle as for the cups. Styrofoam isn't so good as it's a lot more difficult to really wash, so...we don't need those. But these are good for sharing food in.
* Forks (preferred) / spoons (usable, but not preferred)
We don't need plastic knives. (Same deal as above--if they're used, please consider washing them before handing them over! But we'll do it if you can't.)
* Onions/garlic
(Onions add a lot to our stuffing.)
* Spices/seasonings (any kind, any amount! UPDATE 12/07--we're good on garlic and black pepper for a while!)
For more information about Food Not Bombs internationally:
Food Not Bombs
Food Not Bombs News
