Food Not Bombs believes that society and government should value human life over material wealth. Many of the problems in the world stem from this simple crisis in values. By giving away food to people in need in public places, we directly dramatize the level of hunger in this country and the surplus of food being wasted. We also call attention to the failures of this society to support those within it while funding the forces of war and violence, including the police. We are committed to the use of non-violent direct action to change society. It is by working today to create sustainable institutions that prefigure the kind of society we want to live in, and that build a vital and caring movement for progressive social change.

The following is reprinted interview from NJ FNB Newsletter with one of the activists in our Bratislava Chapter.

Peter: When did you start FNB in Slovakia and how many chapters are there?

A: Food Not Bombs Slovakia started cooking in December 1999 and since May 2000 has been cooking twice a week. Currently we have new chapters in Nitra, Trnava, Roznava, Kosice, Poprad.

P: What is the legal status of FNB in Slovakia, are you officially registered?

A: No, we are not a registered organization, we have no rules, no budget, nothing. It's about 30 people who get together every weekend, they cook, clean our kitchen, make banners, flyer around the town... Lately we got a new bicycle we use to deliver the food to the sharing spot.

P: Do you think that FNB activities are necessary and also appreciated by public?

A: Of course they're necessary. Besides helping others, it is food recycling, volunteer work, strengthening the community, educating people about veganism, ecology, pacifism, causes of hunger.

It's hard to tell if it is appreciated. When people see that we are helping people on the street, they like it, they support us. However, as soon as we start talking about problems of our society, they stop smiling and walk away.

FNB is not only about feeding people on the streets and collecting donations from others. We also want people to change themselves and their approach towards their lives.

P: Why did you choose serving food on the streets and not collaborating with other charities?

A: Because our food is vegan, from the waste, we do not want to hide but serve in the middle of the town, in front of the McDonald's restaurant, which wouldn't be approved by any of the charities. And as I said before social help is not our goal, it is just a part of our activities. Anyway, we have contacts on many charities in our city and we are friends with many of their employees, especially from Bratislavska katolicka charita, who serve food during week days and Betlem Matky Terezy, who provide shelter for the homeless.

P: How would describe your usual meeting, sharing? How many people are involved in your chapter?

A: We meet every Saturday afternoon at 1pm. We have a short meeting, we talk and then we prepare food for two hours. After that we finish some office work and at 5pm we go to our sharing spot. After sharing some of the people come back to clean up our kitchen and dishes.

Before we prepare the food we go once a month on Friday afternoon to grocery wholesale store, where they already know us and always give us food for longer - four big bags of potatoes, vegetables, sometimes it is too much. Once we got 1000 lb. of tomatoes and 5000 lb. of bananas, but we can take only as much as we can carry. On Saturday morning we go to bakeries where we get 300 pieces of bread, cookies, pastries, etc., after that we also visit our local stores and then we can start cooking in our kitchen.

There we first clean up all food, cut it and cook the soup. It depends what food we have available. Sometimes we make carrot, potato or tomato soup... There are usually 20 people. It is pretty fast cooking.

Usually 5 - 10 folks go to the sharing, we hang banners up, we flyer around. We serve for 40 - 80 people a day. I would guess there are around 200 people who come often. They like the food. We serve in plastic cups which we collect afterwards and reuse. We do not hand out any spoons and we try to minimize all waste we produce. They really like it, all food is usually done in 30 minutes and then we go home.

On Saturday we cook also for Sunday sharing. We start at 9am, we prepare all food and share at train station at 12.30pm. Altogether we have around 15 hard core members, 30 people who come and help with cooking and around 50 people who support us at our events.

P: Do you work at any campaigns and other activities besides sharing food?

A: All the time we work at our general campaign which includes educating public about veganism and pacifism. We publish and distribute literature and flyers. Now we are preparing a campaign against buying new expensive military equipment and a campaign to abolish mandatory military service.

P: Tell us something about yourself, how did you start working with FNB, what other groups and organizations you work with, etc?

A: I heard about FNB before, I didn't really have idea how it all works. At the beginning we learned a little about various chapters around the world and at the first meeting we prepared our own goals and principles. I just volunteer in FNB, my real work was in Sloboda Zvierat (Animal Liberation - PETA-like organization). We are allowed to use their kitchen and meeting space. Now I work for new organization Zi a Nechaj Zit and Ludia Proti Rasizmu (People against racism). I've been vegan for 9 years. In 1992 I worked on campaign against military service. And I became a father a few months ago!

P: What attracted you the most to FNB: pacifism, helping others, something else?

A: From the beginning it was mainly pacifism. This became more wide and today it is solidarity between chapters, veganism, volunteerism... But FNB as a peace movement is still the main idea and we would like to do more campaigns against military spending.

P: Do you think that communication among international chapters is important?

A: It is always good to know who is doing what and where. However I like the idea of autonomous chapters, whose activities are totally independent from others. Sometimes people say that our FNB is different from others, but I think it's up to every group how they will form their own work. The diversity is beautiful. You can find contacts for more chapters around the world at http://www.vegansplendor.com/contactlist.htm

P: And how about police? Do you guys need permission to serve food on the street? You mentioned that you serve in front of the McDonald's restaurant. Do they like it?

A: We've never had any major problem with police. They know us. We do not ask for the permission any more, but still feel sure that they won't just come and stop us from helping other people. Nobody contacted us from McDonald's yet. They probably don't want any problems either. We serve right in front of their entrance and people who eat can sit on that awful bench with plastic clown. We used to have problems with the train station police, but after we spoke to station director, we moved 30 feet aside, and nobody bothers us anymore. We have the best spot with benches and our banners on the billboards.

P: What are your personal feelings when you do it?

A: This is the best feeling. Currently we are trying to do some more stuff, like street performances, so that way our sharings are not just serving food, but also approaching public. I am mostly happy that we didn't skip a single weekend since we started and people on the street can count on us.

The only trouble I see is with young activists. As active anarchists they joined us and after few sharings they started arguments about our chapter. So they started their own chapter and after two months didn't show up at all and left people without the food. Still today they haven't returned any of our stuff or money back. This conflict took a lot of enthusiasm from us.

P: It's been 20 years since first FNB chapter started. Do you think there will be still FNB after next 20 years?

A: Definitely. It must be! It depends just on us.

P: What do you think the Slovak FNB is different from others?

A: I am not really sure. I have never visited any other chapters. Others should tell us. You can find everything on our website www.jedlo.sk and let us know.

Good luck FNBers and don't forget: Cook For Peace!

Food Not Bombs Bratislava Slovak Republic
Basic Goals and Principles

The Name

· Protests the money spent on war when ordinary, innocent people are denied access to basic needs

Food Recycling

· All food is recycled from supermarket "waste". It is considered un-sellable due to cosmetic blemishes, yet remains perfectly edible
· We know that scarcity is a lie, there is more than enough food for everyone and that poor food distribution is the problem

Veggie Power

· Because of the use of recycled food, guaranteeing the safety of meat products is impossible and controlling the quality of plant produce is much easier.
· Vegetarian food is very healthy and full of nutritious vitamins, and minerals

Acknowledgement

· We claim solidarity in the fight against poverty. All people deserve equal respect regardless of their social and/or economic situation.
· The existence of poverty must be addressed publicly and not hidden out of sight

Non-Violence

· Poverty, hunger, and homelessness are violence caused by skewed government priorities.
· We protest resources spent on war and armament when people are denied their basic rights to food and shelter

Consensus

· FNB has no structure or hierarchy; all volunteers are equal members with equal say
· A conscious effort is made to include everyone in decision making

Non-profit

· Little or no money is involved; food is donated
· No paid staff - we are all volunteers

Anti-Authoritarian

· No group leader(s)
· We reject authorities that contribute to or help sustain the current unacceptable situation

Politics

· Members of Food Not Bombs have a diverse range of political ideologies.
· Independent thinking is encouraged.
· Volunteers can become involved for any reason; we just all want to help!

Contact: Jedlo namiesto zbraní
Mlynské Nivy 41
821 09 Bratislava

tel: 0903 127 824
fax: + 421 / 2 / 55 42 21 76

email: mail@jedlo.sk