At the intersection of Dale Mabry and Gandy Boulevard, a motorist can look south, west and north and see the golden arches of three McDonalds locations, each within less than two miles. It's a depressing reminder of how sold we are on the drive-thru, and how accepting we are of the corporate culture that feeds us quick, unhealthy meals at a cost of gross waste.
That waste being food — unprepared or unsold — that's thrown away.
In a subversively courageous effort to right this wrong, the autonomous collective Food Not Bombs actively collects such food and distributes it to those in need.
To be more specific, chapters of Food Not Bombs accept donations of food, cook various dishes depending on what ingredients they're given, take the food to local city parks and share it with the homeless.
"We usually get three big garbage bags full of bread from Panera," says Claudia Wald, a member of Tampa's chapter of Food Not Bombs. "We usually have a stew with broccoli, cauliflower, spices and chickpeas. We make a lot of rice and pasta dishes with eggplant, squash and potato. And we always serve cold water. It's not really a matter of what we have a recipe for. It's more what can you do with 12 ears of corn, 10 potatoes and like 26 heads of cauliflower."
Anti-nuclear activists formed the first Food Not Bombs group in 1980 in Cambridge, Mass. But because the organization has no formal leaders, numerous chapters have sprouted up ever since, working in coalition with groups like Earth First!, Homes Not Jails and the Free Radio Movement. Chapters may share little or no direct affiliation, but are focused on issues of positive social change and resistance to global austerity.
Basically, they're radicals. Just like America's founding fathers.
"We're like Fight Club," says Wald, referencing the Chuck Palahniuk novel (and namesake film) about a modern-day anarchist group that rails against the decay of society. "Except we don't collect fat and make it into soap. We collect food and make it into meals."
Secondary goals of the Tampa chapter include advocating alternative approaches to the government and businesses for food, for instance advocating people grow their own food and trade goods with friends. The group also advocates vegetarianism, but they don't impress or impose their political stances on the individuals they feed.
"We're not going to give out anarchist literature," Wald says, "or preach veganism or preach peace or anything like that. It's food with no little asterisk. No attachments. No small print. Because we want it to be food for everyone with no strings attached."
The Tampa chapter of Food Not Bombs meets every Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Cafe of Borders-South Tampa, located at 909 N. Dale Mabry.
For more info, email the group at Tampafoodnotbombs@hotmail.com.
This article appears in Jul 24-30, 2003.
