Milwaukee Food Not Bombs First Serving

someone who was there, 04.10.2007 10:48

This last Saturday the 29th of September at 5pm the Milwaukee Food Not Bombs (FNB) served free food (mostly vegan) to hungry people who came from all over, as well as each other and those who just happened to be hanging out in the park.

This was the first serving besides block parties and special occasions in Riverwest. Fliers were handed out to people at a local soup kitchen on the south side and plans were made to serve on the day of the week that the soup kitchen was closed (apparently every Saturday.) The idea was to fill the gap for people who aren’t as able to walk or travel the distance to other soup kitchens in the area.

There were days of seeking out, receiving donations, hording and preparing the free food before the serving. A number of people cooked food in Riverwest out of one of their kitchens. After all the food was ready and people met up huge buckets of pasta and salad, plates, silverware, amazing bakery that was donated and all the people were stuffed into cars and they made their way down to walkers square park in walker’s point.

No one knew what exactly to expect. There hadn’t been consistent servings of food not bombs in Milwaukee in a long while and none of the people who went had participated in them. When people arrived at the park there were people sitting around, talking and handing out. It was hard to tell if they were waiting for Food Not Bombs to set up or just in the park. As people started to set up and get things out of the car someone came over and asked if any help was needed. A lot of people had been waiting around patiently come. There was more than a one to one ratio of people who came due to flyering at the soup kitchen (something that rarely happens for anything else). Everything quickly got set up while some people with nothing to do looked at each other, and fumblingly kicked a soccer ball back and forth.

Someone went around the park and told everyone that there was free food available to anyone who wanted some. Neighborhood kids who just happened to be walking by or hanging out in the park saw we had Doritos dumpsterdived from somewhere and they couldn’t believe that they were free. Some of them snook around grabbed a bag or two and made off in disbelief. It was hard to tell how many came. All the silverware was used and gone. Some people used spoons instead of forks or shared theirs, but at least 25 forks were used and therefore as least 25 people were served (maybe 40+). A number of people came back for seconds and were encouraged to take as much bread or whatever they wanted, it would have just rotted anyway.

This went extremely well considering the amount of promotion it had and that it was the first time FNB had served in Milwaukee in a long time.

There was a lot of demand and interest sparked by people who came to the serving. They asked how often it was going to happen again and volunteers for food not bombs had to reluctantly answer once per month. This serving was put together and done by a small group of organized and dedicated individuals, but with more help it would be easy to make it happen at least once per week to fill some of the gaps.

If people are interested in getting involved email us or come to meetings on the first and third Monday of every month at the Cream City Collectives (732 e Clarke st) at 7:30pm.

Email:  fnbmke@gmail.com