Food Not Bombs

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Scrawled onto a banner unfurled by a small group of anti-nuclear activists in Cambridge, Mass., 27 years ago, those words continue to tug at the social conscience.

In no way could the protesters have imagined the kind of international grassroots movement to feed the needy their words would inspire, says Keith McHenry, one of the group members and founders of Food Not Bombs. 

“Even by the time I’d started Food Not Bombs a year later, no way did I think it would spread across America,” he says.

The basic tenet of the all-volunteer effort that has spread to Europe and beyond, revolutionary as the group describes it, is that by recycling food that would otherwise be thrown away, no one has to go hungry.

“Food is not a privilege, it’s a right,” says Evan Tucker, a volunteer with the Sacramento Food Not Bombs chapter. “That food should be wasted while people go hungry, I really find objectionable.”

Tucker, 25, manages a small business and has volunteered with Food Not Bombs for nine years. The group has operated in Sacramento since 1990.

Volunteers gather to prepare the food and then haul it, via bicycles, to Cesar Chavez Park on Sundays to serve the homeless and those just down on their luck. All the food is donated, and the largest donations come from the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, Tucker says. Food Not Bombs is a self-described anarchistic group, but not in the conventional sense of the word. There  is no power structure among the volunteers; everyone is equal. Beyond that, McHenry says it means that people are able to solve their problems without waiting for government leaders to step in. “We are about helping our neighbors, our community,” says McHenry. “It is a way to build a more nurturing community.” At 53, McHenry lives in Taos, New Mexico, and studies art in college. He remains active in the local chapter and helps others start their own groups.  But often the groups’ practices have led them afoul of the law. Eight years after starting a chapter in Boston, McHenry formed a chapter in San Francisco. There, McHenry claims he has been arrested more than 100 times for serving food to the homeless. Last year Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla., made it illegal to feed the homeless on city property. Officials claim the charity of groups such as Food Not Bombs leads to trouble when large groups of homeless people congregate in particular areas. In Sacramento, Tucker says he was cited once by the police for serving without a permit but nothing came of the charge. Besides, he says, the Sacramento police appear to understand what the volunteers are trying to do. “How could you be against people eating?” he asks. SacramentoPolice Sgt. Matt Young says, in general, the police support what the volunteers are doing, but the officers do have to keep on their toes in case a “situation arises.” “We’re glad they’re out there doing what they’re doing, helping citizens who are down on their luck,” he says. The food served by the volunteers is always vegetarian, preferably vegan (no animal byproducts, such as eggs or dairy products, for example). “We are opposed to the violence of slaughtering of animals,” McHenry says. And, of course, the group opposes armed conflicts. “We’ve been organizing poor people and middle Americans to take back their power,” says McHenry. “To redirect their money away from military budgets and redirect (it) to more basic needs that citizens have.” Nearly three decades into his campaign on behalf of the community, McHenry says he remains optimistic that Food Not Bombs is making the world a better place. “I’m more idealistic than I was at 22,” he says.

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