Peace meals: Activist group, Food Not Bombs, dishes up delicious food and high ideals

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http://www.bostonherald.com/lifestyle/food_dining/food09132000.htm

 

Peace meals: Activist group, Food Not Bombs, dishes up delicious food and

high ideals

by Jennifer C. Berkshire

Wednesday, September 13, 2000

 

PHOTOGRAPHS

Sarah Tyler and Kerry Denvir are chopping their way through mounds of

Vidalia onions, preparing a meal that soon will be served on tony Beacon Hill.

Sarah Tyler, who has been in charge of Food Not Bombs' Saturday meal for

two years, gets cooking on Boston Common. (Staff photo by Andre Samoylov)

 

This meal isn't headed for the tables of No. 9 Park or The Federalist,

though. When they are done cooking, Tyler, Denvir and a team of volunteers

will head to the Boston Common, where they will spend the afternoon serving

fresh, vegetarian food to the homeless, the hungry and the merely curious.

 

They are part of a national group called Food Not Bombs, started in Boston

in 1980 as an outgrowth of protests against the Seabrook Nuclear Power

Plant in New Hampshire. " It was pretty simple, " says Eric Weinberger, an

activist who has been with the group since 1987. " We had all of these

people who had come together to protest nuclear power and militarism, and

they needed to eat, so Food Not Bombs started cooking for them. That's how

it all began. "

 

Twenty years later, the group has spawned 175 chapters around the world and

is one of the largest free-food networks in North America. Using kitchens

at St. Paul's Church and the Community Church of Boston, the group - which

claims about 70 active members locally - cooks for hungry Hub residents

five days a week.

 

So what's for lunch today? Pinto beans - lots and lots of pinto beans. " We

get most of our food from local grocery stores who would otherwise have to

throw it away, " says Sarah Tyler, a 19-year-old graduate of Lincoln-Sudbury

High School who has been in charge of the group's Saturday meal for two

years. " That means we have to be very flexible about planning the meals. "

 

Using the consensus model of decision-making that the group prides itself

on, the cooks - who, besides Tyler, include Denvir, an engineer at Texas

Instruments, Hana Josephy, a student at Vassar College, and Shawn Sitaro,

guitarist for local band Godboy - decide to try making ``pinto patties, "

similar to falafel, but with pinto beans instead of chickpeas.

 

Along with pounds of pintos, the group also has a big pile of donated yams

and apples. A side dish is born: yams baked with apples and cinnamon.

 

Cooking with food that would otherwise go to waste in order to feed people

who would otherwise go hungry gets at the root of the group's political

philosophy. Food Not Bombs rejects the notion that because food is sold for

profit, some people must go without. ``Food shouldn't be a privilege, " says

Josephy, who travels to Boston from Poughkeepsie, NY, on the weekends to

volunteer with the group.

 

Everything the group prepares is vegetarian and 90 percent of it is vegan,

meaning it contains no animal products at all. Such a diet, the activists

maintain, promotes ecological sustainability and human health, while

eliminating the cruelty to animals on which a meat-based diet depends.

``Vegetarianism is better for the environment, and it also means less

waste, " says Denvir, who describes himself as nearly completely vegan.

 

But it's not easy being a vegan; a vast array of foods contain " hidden''

animal products. White sugar, for example, is bleached using the bones of

animals.

 

And being a vegan chef is even harder. Onions chopped, pintos soaked and

run through a food processor, the pinto patties are ready for frying. The

first attempts, however, do not bode well. The mixture is too loose,

falling to pieces in the hot, spitting oil. A typical cook would simply

open the refrigerator and reach for an egg, a binding agent that's cheap

and effective. But eggs come from chickens, which means they are off limits

to vegans.

 

What to do? The meal is scheduled to be served in little more than an hour

and the pinto patties won't quite stick. Finally, Tyler locates some

cornstarch and the frying begins.

 

By the time the process is completed, the cooks will have fried more than

200 patties. As Denvir and Sitaro man the frying pans, the rest of the

group looks on anxiously.

 

" These are awesome, " says Josephy, sampling a piece. She's right. The

patties are crisp and brown, pungent with coriander and cumin, with a

surprising lemony kick. ``We get compliments every week, " says Tyler. ``It

feels good to know that we're doing a service and making a statement, but

that people appreciate it, too. "

 

On a typical day, the group serves about 100, most - but not all - of whom

are homeless. The food is free to anyone, and that, Eric Weinberger

insists, is the whole point: ``Obviously, we want to help those who

couldn't afford to eat otherwise, but we also feel very strongly that there

should be food for everyone. This is our way of calling attention to a

serious problem, and doing something about it at the same time. "

 

True to its political roots, Food Not Bombs continues to provide food for

hungry activists at local protests. The group also participated in the

protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle last fall, as well

as the April demonstrations in Washington, D.C., opposing the International

Monetary Fund.

 

Ray Giroux, an engineer and Food Not Bombs member who participated in both

protests, says that like many FNB activists, he first got involved in the

group because he wanted to help others.

 

" But once I started to learn more about the politics of food production in

this country, I wanted to challenge the system in a bigger way. I wanted to

do something about the waste and the cruelty. "

 

While serving free food might sound like a common-sense solution to the

problem of hunger, Food Not Bombs hasn't always received a warm welcome. In

San Francisco, where an FNB chapter was founded in 1988, members of the

group have been arrested more than 700 times for serving food without a

license to the city's homeless.

 

In Boston, Food Not Bombs has become a lunchtime staple on the Common and

in Copley Square, across from the library. While some visitors might

consider the group's politics as they sample pinto patties or lentil soup,

others are simply glad that the group provides the service that it does.

 

Karen Russell is a former computer operator who now lives on her Social

Security benefit. She stops by the Food Not Bombs table once or twice a

week. ``After I pay my rent and my bills, there just isn't much left over.

I could never afford to eat at any of those restaurants, " she says,

pointing up the hill toward No. 9 Park. ``So I come here instead. The food

is really good, but that's only part of what these people provide. They

save lives by doing what they do. "

 

Here is a sampling of the group's recipes.

 

For information, about volunteering with Food Not Bombs,

call Eric Weinberger at 617-787-3436.

 

PINTO PATTIES

 

2/3 c. dried pinto beans, soaked overnight

1/2 t. salt

1 t. cornstarch

1/2 c. onion, chopped fine

1/4 c. chopped parsley

2 t. lemon juice

3/4 t. cumin

3/4 t. coriander

1 clove garlic, minced

Black pepper to taste

Oil for frying

 

Put the beans and salt in a food processor. Process until the beans are

about the consistency of bread crumbs. Combine beans and remaining

ingredients thoroughly, until ingredients are well blended and mixture can

be formed into patties. Form patties and fry in hot oil in wok or frying

pan until golden brown. Makes 4 servings.

 

LENTIL SOUP

2 large onions

Garlic - as much as you can stand

3 stalks celery

2 T. vegetable oil

2 c. uncooked lentils

3 medium potatoes

2 tomatoes, chopped

1/4 c. canned tomatoes

Salt to taste

 

Chop the onions, garlic and celery. Heat the oil in a soup pot; saute the

onions, garlic and celery until the onions are translucent and celery is

soft. Add lentils and water to cover (more water may have to be added

periodically as the lentils absorb what is in the pot).

 

Dice potatoes and boil in a separate pot until almost tender, then drain.

When lentils are nearly cooked (approximately 30 minutes), add the drained

potatoes, chopped tomatoes and canned tomatoes. Cook over medium heat until

flavors are blended. Season to taste with salt. Makes 6-8.