Food Not Bombs (FNB) was conceived in the heat of the Cold War when a group of protesters in the United States protested against the construction of a nuclear power plant in Massachusetts in the 80s. The slogan of the protesters were “Money for food, not for bombs”, and shortly after it was truncated to Food Not Bombs. The beliefs underpinning the movement, taken ad verbatim from Wikipedia, are as follows:-
On a fine Saturday morning, I arrived at the FNBKL collective house and to be greeted by a signage proclaiming "Food Not Bombs Kuala Lumpur". The accompanying slogan in Malay, "Kerana Makanan Cukup Untuk Semua" can be translated as "There Is Enough Food For All".
The following photographs does not show the actual process of preparation of the free food for subsequent distribution. That morning, the volunteer chef extraordinaire, was busy whipping up a dip for 'tempeh' in conjuction with a FNB fundraising activity.
Quite a few of the FNB volunteers are mean cooks, as I can attest later the following Sunday when I sampled a vegan curry dish concoted by another volunteer. Most of the vegetables utilized are leftovers or donation-in-kind collected from the wet market traders after closing hours. On occasion, vegetables are bought from money collected via fundraising activities or donations from members of the public.
The fundraising activity of the day was the selling of prints and paintings executed by the FNB volunteers or donated by members of the public. The first photograph, seen below, shows four prints donated by blogger Susan Loone for the fundraiser.
Above, naive artistic work by a member of the FNB collective that was available for sale that day...
...and finally above, some prints from both individuals and NGOs affiliated or associated with FNBKL. All are available for sale at FNBKL chapter house.
The following Sunday evening, I leisurely made my way to St. John's Cathedral to document the free distribution of food by FNBKL. Despite the grimy sky and occassional trickle of rain, the weather held up and the distribution was carried out under open skies. As a FNB volunteer sets-up the tables, crockery, and what-nots...
...free drinks, in the form of sweetened orange drink, are ladled into little plastic cups by both volunteers and members of the public.
Many of those who came for the free food were the urban poor and homeless. Despite that, there was an orderly and quiet queue for the free food, unlike some paid buffets I have attended before. Several other religious and charitable organizations are also engaged in the free kitchen concept, which was pioneered in Kuala Lumpur by FNBKL.
A rich dish served up by FNBKL. As explained earlier, I sampled the excellent vegan curry seen here with a dollop of rice. My compliments to the chef.
"Kerana Makanan Cukup Untuk Semua"
A group hug after the fact. My thanks to Ms. Thilaga and members of the FNBKL for their kind permission to document their activities as well as their kind hospitality during my brief two day interlude with them. Please do click on the following shortcut link to learn more about FNBKL and as to how you can contribute.
- If governments and corporations around the world spent as much time and energy on feeding people as they do on war, no one would go hungry.
- There is enough food in the world to feed everyone, but so much of it goes to waste needlessly, as a direct result of capitalism and militarism.
- Vegan food is both healthy and non-violent.
On a fine Saturday morning, I arrived at the FNBKL collective house and to be greeted by a signage proclaiming "Food Not Bombs Kuala Lumpur". The accompanying slogan in Malay, "Kerana Makanan Cukup Untuk Semua" can be translated as "There Is Enough Food For All".The following photographs does not show the actual process of preparation of the free food for subsequent distribution. That morning, the volunteer chef extraordinaire, was busy whipping up a dip for 'tempeh' in conjuction with a FNB fundraising activity.
Quite a few of the FNB volunteers are mean cooks, as I can attest later the following Sunday when I sampled a vegan curry dish concoted by another volunteer. Most of the vegetables utilized are leftovers or donation-in-kind collected from the wet market traders after closing hours. On occasion, vegetables are bought from money collected via fundraising activities or donations from members of the public.
The fundraising activity of the day was the selling of prints and paintings executed by the FNB volunteers or donated by members of the public. The first photograph, seen below, shows four prints donated by blogger Susan Loone for the fundraiser.
Above, naive artistic work by a member of the FNB collective that was available for sale that day...
...and finally above, some prints from both individuals and NGOs affiliated or associated with FNBKL. All are available for sale at FNBKL chapter house.The following Sunday evening, I leisurely made my way to St. John's Cathedral to document the free distribution of food by FNBKL. Despite the grimy sky and occassional trickle of rain, the weather held up and the distribution was carried out under open skies. As a FNB volunteer sets-up the tables, crockery, and what-nots...
...free drinks, in the form of sweetened orange drink, are ladled into little plastic cups by both volunteers and members of the public.
Many of those who came for the free food were the urban poor and homeless. Despite that, there was an orderly and quiet queue for the free food, unlike some paid buffets I have attended before. Several other religious and charitable organizations are also engaged in the free kitchen concept, which was pioneered in Kuala Lumpur by FNBKL.
A rich dish served up by FNBKL. As explained earlier, I sampled the excellent vegan curry seen here with a dollop of rice. My compliments to the chef.
"Kerana Makanan Cukup Untuk Semua"
A group hug after the fact. My thanks to Ms. Thilaga and members of the FNBKL for their kind permission to document their activities as well as their kind hospitality during my brief two day interlude with them. Please do click on the following shortcut link to learn more about FNBKL and as to how you can contribute.
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