Seven Steps to Organizing a
local Food Not Bombs
(this is the text of a flyer from long ago)
At the outset, starting a Food Not Bombs might seem like more than you can handle. Work on the basics, taking one step at a time. There is no need to feel pressured to accomplish everything at once. It might take a couple of weeks to get things rolling, or it might take months. One person cannot be a Food Not Bombs group, but one person can be the "initiator" of one group.
Once you have made the decision to start a local Food Not Bombs group, pick a meeting date, time, and place, and gather together everyone interested in talking about what you might like to do. You might start with a group of friends, or members of an existing group, or it could be people who respond to posters announcing your intentions. The following is a step-by-step process to getting your food operation up and running. Because of your unique situation, you may need to add, ignore, or reorder steps. Follow the path you feel will work best for your group.
* Get a phone number, mailing address and email address. By using either a voice mailbox or an answering machine, you can have an outgoing message with information about the next meeting time and place, and receive messages so that you never miss a call. Likewise, use a commercial mailbox or post office box for your permanent address.
* Make flyers announcing the existence of a local Food Not Bombs group. By handing them out at events, posting them around town, or mailing them to your friends, you will get additional volunteers. It is helpful to have regularly scheduled, weekly meetings, and always know the date of the next one.
* Arrange for the use of a vehicle. Among the members of your group, there might be enough vehicles of the right size for your needs, but if not, you might be able to borrow a van or truck from a sympathetic church group or similar organization. If you are very lucky, you could be able to find someone to donate one to you. If none of the above succeeds, you can always hold fund-raising events specifically for the purchase of a van. Depending on the volume of food you expect to work with and the area you need to cover, building or buying bicycle carts may also meet some of your needs.
* With flyers in hand, begin looking for sources of food. The first places to try are the local food co-ops and health food stores. These types of stores tend to be supportive and are a good place to practice your approach. Tell them you plan to give the food to shelters and soup kitchens to feed hungry people, and if they are interested and willing, arrange a regular time to pick up the food each day, or as often as practical. Where appropriate, leave literature that explains what Food Not Bombs does.
* Deliver your collected food to shelters and meal kitchens. It is important to get to know the food pantries and soup kitchens in your area. Learn where they are located, whom they serve, and how many they serve. This information will help you plan your delivery route and to distribute the appropriate types and amounts of food to each program. It is usually desirable to arrange a regular delivery schedule with each kitchen.
* Prepare meals to serve on the streets. Go to rallies and demonstrations. There your group can recruit more volunteers, collect donations, and lift the spirits of those at the event. Giving out meals at a rally builds community and supports the cause in a very direct way.
* Serve meals in a visible way one day a week to the homeless and anyone on the street. Cooking and serving food there builds community within the group and is hard work, but is also great fun. Pick highly visible locations, because part of our mission is to help make the "invisible homeless" visible. We also want to reach out to everyone with our political message of "food not bombs," and we want to be very accessible.
