i'd like to clear up some misconceptions about FNB

Lots of people who i like and respect have criticized the idea that Food Not Bombs, specifically the up and coming Food Not Bombs Deland, only serves vegetarian food. I can see how to some people it might seem like a pretentious move by some self-involved elitists. Basically, rather than disrespecting people who eat meat, FNB is trying to promote what i and other people see as a reasonable and more sustainable diet for the planet. For one thing, while we're carting them around in the hot Florida sun, meat products are hard to keep fresh and out of the "temperature danger zone" in which harmful bacteria can grow and pose a safety hazard. And by serving vegetarian meals, we're humbly avoiding support of the meat industry which is undeniably responsible for largely wasted plant resources through cycling edible products through commercial farm animals, obscene amounts of greenhouse gas emissions (A 2006 United Nations report found that the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than all the SUVs, cars, trucks, planes, and ships in the world combined), and the appalling deforestation of the world's last great tropical rainforest at the hands of cattle ranching. We're not preaching not to eat meat, but simply sharing more environmentally sustainable vegetarian food and the option of vegetarian cooking. Rather than snatching up meat products from hungry hands, FNB aims to serve all the food it can, meat or not, while leaning toward vegetarian meals that statistically leave a lesser dent in the world's resources. The FNB website put it best: "At times, we do serve already prepared dairy and meat products which are donated to us because we believe eating is more important than being politically correct; however, we do not cook with animal products." Serving vegetarian food is not meant to be an insult to homeless people who aren't privileged kids getting their moms to buy boca burgers for them, it's meant to feed the hungry while taking a stand against a system that is responsible for negative environmental effects on the local community and the world.

http://home.earthlink.net/~foodnotbombs/seven.html


these views do not necessarily reflect those of everyone in yabai deland.

-nathan