Increase In Meat At FnB Chapters?

[u/Left_Double_626]

I've noticed that every FnB chapter in my state (that I know of at least) serves some meat. Is this a growing trend? The last time I did FnB was over a decade ago (I'm involved in a non-vegetarian mutual aid group these days) and this would be unheard of back then. We would always thank people who brought non-veggie dishes, serve it, and ask them to bring a veggie dish next time and explain that FnB is a vegetarian project.

I understand the reasons people serve meat (we mainly serve homeless folks, and many of them like meat, don't wanna turn away food, etc), but to me it feels disrespectful to the legacy of FnB to call your group FnB and break one the few core principles. Why organizer under the banner of FnB if you don't agree with the principles? To me it's like starting an Anarchist Black Cross chapter and doing prisoner support for incarcerated cops, it's a fundamental contradiction. I've met some homeless vegetarians/vegans who sought out FnB here and were disappointed it wasn't "really FnB." I would have felt the same way when I homeless.

I'm curious what other people's thoughts are and how it looks in your region.

[u/foodnotbombsboco]

We receive our food weekly from grocery store donations and will not turn down anything we can get our hands on or we would be completely unable to feed the crowd that we see on a weekly basis. We often go out of pocket for our expenses even with the meat and dairy provided to ensure there are veggies at our servings as sometimes the grocery store offerings are very slim.

We make sure there is a vegan/veg option at every sharing, and we do get folks who show up regularly who do not eat meat or dairy. We try to be cognizant of everyone’s dietary preferences if they express them to us. (Gluten free being another one we see)

If we were to only accept the non dairy and meat alternatives from grocery stores I’d say we would be adequately prepared to serve folks probably once every two months.

I am not a vegan, my dear friend who has lead the charge with me on keeping our chapter alive over a changing of hands is. He keeps us honest to ensure we are serving veganveg food but will happily accept meat and has even helped cook it.

We organize under fnb for the name recognition and have often had community members reach out to us because they were specifically looking for an fnb chapter. I have read through a short book about the founding principles of fnb but the reality is just like everything else, the way our lives have changed since the founding of fnb forces us to adapt to the needs of today. They talk about dumpster diving for food, we have been lucky enough not to have to risk breaking laws to receive rescued food and can feel confident it was kept refrigerated. They talk about growing everything to become self sufficient. In a perfect world I’d love to do that but don’t have any land or time to commit to growing enough produce to feed 75+ people in the summer and have no greenhouse for winter.

I’m committed to making sure everyone gets fed, but I also have four roommates to afford rent so I can’t be going out of pocket for every meal.

I hope this helps explain why we do what we do and does not offend. I think veganism is an important aspect of moving towards a sustainable future but I cannot wrap my head around throwing away food, particularly that comes from animals or their exploitation even if it wasn’t what the founders originally pictured. Some of the community members who have reached out from previous iterations of fnb are just happy to know we exist and are not put off by the “new” practices we have which gives me confidence we’re OK continuing to organize under the name fnb.

[u/Left_Double_626 → u/foodnotbombsboco]

I have read through a short book about the founding principles of fnb but the reality is just like everything else, the way our lives have changed since the founding of fnb forces us to adapt to the needs of today. They talk about dumpster diving for food, we have been lucky enough not to have to risk breaking laws to receive rescued food and can feel confident it was kept refrigerated. They talk about growing everything to become self sufficient. In a perfect world I’d love to do that but don’t have any land or time to commit to growing enough produce to feed 75+ people in the summer and have no greenhouse for winter.

I appreciate your insights. No offense taken.

I do agree that growing the food is often utopian given how expensive land is these and the cost of living, but dumpster diving is still very viable (my friend lived in a punk house that fed the entire house PLUS a food not bombs chapter solely with dumpstered food from Whole Foods). As for making vegetarian food, it's far easier to make good, nutritious, and tasty vegetarian food than it was when FnB was founded, and even 10 years ago. Back then people had to make their own soy milk, and when soy milk became a thing you could buy in stores, it just tasted like bean juice.