Volunteers provide free, local food

Food Not Bombs serves vegan meals weekly at Bronson Park

By Megan Muzzell

Western Herald
When Kalamazoo resident Richard Vanantwerp was asked how Food Not Bombs got their name, he responded “they would rather feed you than blow you up.”

Food Not Bombs is a movement that serves free vegan meals to the public every week across the country.

According to their Web site – www.foodnotbombs.net – Food Not Bombs was started in the 1980s in Cambridge, Massachusetts by a group of anti-nuclear activists.

To protest a meeting that funded nuclear power projects, the group served a free meal to hundreds of people. The group then started to serve free weekly hot meals and a movement began.

Food Not Bombs groups were then created in other cities throughout the world.

These groups have served meals after crisis like hurricane Katrina, the 2004 Tsunami in the Indian ocean, and the 9/11 attacks.

About two years ago, a Food Not Bombs chapter was started in Kalamazoo, serving meals in Bronson Park every Saturday at 5 p.m.

“We can have fine meals for everyone in the park at least once a week,” said Andrew Joyce, a regular volunteer. “Around 30 people normally come to eat a meal and filter in and out over about 90 minutes.”

The food is cooked in a house in the Vine neighborhood and then transported to Bronson Park.

“I asked veteran volunteers if I should bring anything, they told me only a happy face,” Tyler Balaskovitz, a new volunteer, said.

Much of the food that is served comes from dumpsters outside of local grocery stores. Stores throw food out because it is overstocked or newly expired.

Volunteers then takes the food to a local residence and make the weekly meal. Everything is packaged when obtained, and washed before being served.

“What we make is from what is dumpstered” said Tim Caldwell, a regular volunteer.

During the summer, Food Not Bombs has been cooking with fresh homegrown produce from the farmers market. “I told [farmers] that the food was for charity and they gave me produce that would have been thrown out at the end of the day or taken home with them” said Ellyn Grant, a volunteer who has attended Food Not Bombs off and on for a few years.

The meals made for Food Not Bombs are vegan and strive to be healthy. Many of the attendees at an Aug. 8 meal expressed that healthy food was expensive, and Food Not Bombs always provided a nutritious meal.

“The saying goes that there are three things always served at Food Not Bombs, stir fry, mashed potatoes and stew,” said Caldwell.

An Aug. 8 meal consisted of toast, fresh salsa, vegetable stir-fry, black bean veggie stew, and homemade jam with plums and pears for dessert. The food is normally cooked in large quantities and served cafeteria style, with people helping themselves.

The Beck family, visiting several small towns throughout Michigan, saw Food Not Bombs while walking through the park, and were encouraged by volunteers to stop and enjoy a meal.

“We don’t have stuff like this in our town, this is a good meal” Mrs. Beck said. They brought home oranges, bread, and cookies. Other attendees left with surplus stew and fresh fruit.

College students, downtown workers, homeless people, and anyone passing through the park all gather to share a meal.

In the past, some Food Not Bombs chapters have had trouble with authorities in cities like New York and Los Vegas, but luckily Kalamazoo has not had any troubles. As long as there are volunteers, there will be a free meal in Bronson Park at 5 p.m. every week.

Show up for dinner or e-mail zoofeed@riseup.net for information about the organization.

From left: Kimmie Monroe, Christina Beck, Brandon Weir, and Aaron Legg fill their plates with food offered by Food Not Bombs group at Bronson Park on Aug. 1, 2009. (Chyn Wey Lee / Western Herald)

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Sep 7 2009. Filed under Breaking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
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