With over a billion people going hungry each day how can we spend another dollar on war?
Food Not Bombs is an international organization dedicated to fighting hunger, poverty, and war. We believe that it is unconscionable that billions of dollars are spent on murder and repression while billions of people go hungry. Rather than wasting time, money, and energy on the futile task of asking politicans to change their policies, Food Not Bombs directly creates a better world, starting in our own communities.
1 in every 8 housholds in Canada is food insecure. The cause is not laziness, stupidity, or lack of education.[1] Children miss meals every day because of systemic poverty and waste caused by irresponsible government and corporate greed. More than 58% of the food produced in our country is wasted,[2] and much of that waste is intentional and completely unnecessary. Food is thrown away, destroyed, or poisoned by big agribusiness, corporate grocers, and restaurants in order to keep prices high. Food Not Bombs directly responds to this waste by recovering perfectly good food that would otherwise be thrown away, ensuring its quality, and preparing and serving healthy meals to those most in need.
While over 4 million households suffer from hunger, our federal government spends $21.9 billion of our money on death and destruction.[3] Despite a dearth of national security threats, military spending increases year after year after year, with over $233 million earmarked directly for terrorizing other countries such as Ukraine and Afghanistan. This money may be numbers on a spreadsheet to O’Toole or Trudeau, but for millions of Canadian children, it’s meals stolen directly from out of their mouths, and for children abroad, it’s fire and death rained down upon their heads. Food Not Bombs directly opposes wasteful military spending on bombing the Middle East,[4] giving military equipment to cops,[5] and stirring up trouble abroad.
Food Not Bombs is not a charity. We do not believe that hunger is some eternal problem that can only be addressed by the altruism of the rich and powerful. Rather, hunger is caused by the rich and powerful. The hunger and want caused by greed, waste, hate, and callousness can only be addressed by the people themselves working together to achieve sustainable food sovereignty for themselves. Food Not Bombs is on the front lines of this struggle, directly recovering food that would otherwise go to waste and providing fresh, healthy, vegan meals for anyone who is hungry.