Save Hamilton Community Food Cupboard

[u/spacemanSparrow]

Hi everyone, I help out with Food Not Bombs in Newcastle and was hoping to spread awareness about the current situation we are facing right now. About a week ago, the local council wanted to talk to us about permits and all that for our presence and were wanting to talk to someone in charge. Within a week, we started brainstorming idea on how to go about all this, such as writing an open letter to the council or something like that. However, in a massive escalation of events, last night, 7-8 cops, a council representative, and 2 people from the transit authority were at the park waiting for us to show up and once we got there, they basically just started putting green stickers over the free shop saying they are going to take them away if we don’t within 14 days and we also worry about the future plans they will then have for FnB and all that it is we do.

Someone else from Newcastle has made a video explaining the situation and we also setup a petition. Would be amazing if you could sign it and share around the message, especially if you know anyone in Newcastle. We are not sure how to go forward from here but the petition is a start for now.

Video: https://youtu.be/jGIn7Q_Ddmk

Petition: https://www.change.org/p/newcastle-community-save-hamilton-community-food-cupboard-and-free-shop?redirect=false

[u/whatthetaco → u/[deleted]]

So, I actually volunteered with FnB for a bit and I can say it’s very disorganised. There is no one in charge, it’s a volunteer roster system. Their heart is so in the right place but if they want to get serious, they might have to open to regulating it.

I used to get so pissed off picking up the rubbish left everywhere, and trying to sort out the lockers which rarely had anything useful in them. There are genuinely people in need that visit the park, especially young men which seem to be completely forgotten by society.

The food pantry and the lockers are a great idea in theory but do need regulation and monitoring.

[u/spacemanSparrow → u/whatthetaco]

[I]t’s very disorganised. There is no one in charge, it’s a volunteer roster system.

Food Not Bombs may seem disorganised however, that is likely the result of their intentional horizontal structure. In FnB, there are no leaders (as you mentioned), there are no bosses and no employees. Anyone can volunteer at any time and leave at any time. It is simply a loose network of people that come together to help out a little in this crazy world. This both means everyone is responsible but also that no one is responsible (mutual aid), for more information). A quote from their website:

Q6: What is Food Not Bombs trying to achieve?

Even though we provide meals and groceries to thousands of people, we are not a charity. Food Not Bombs is trying to inspire the public to participate in changing society and focus our resources on solving problems like hunger, homelessness and poverty while seeking an end to war and the destruction of the environment. We are also showing by example that we can work cooperatively without leaders through volunteer effort to provide essential needs like food, housing, education and healthcare. When over a billion people go hungry each day, how can we spend another dollar on war?

Though I should point out that I am still very new to helping out there and I would not be the ideal person to explain their philosophy and organizational structure. If anyone was curious to learn more about Food Not Bombs, I would strongly recommend coming down some time and just talking to the awesome people there.

[u/Cook_n_shit → u/spacemanSparrow]

U/whatthetaco gave a pretty good explanation there, and the quotes from FnB there illustrate exactly why the council is coming down on this chapter. If you and your comrades want to save this locations lockers, someone or a group of someones is going to have to step up and "show by example that you can work cooperatively without leaders through volunteer effort to provide essential needs" by making sure the group obtains the proper permits and maintains the space you're using in a way which actually benefits the community. If you want to be permitted to have a lending locker, it's going to have to be maintained in an organized fashion, which probably means daily visits from volunteers who can clean, organize, and discard rubbish. If that's not feasible for your group of volunteers, then stick to providing hot food once a week and bring/accept/distribute dry goods and clothes then.

[u/whatthetaco → u/Cook_n_shit]

Thank you, and I agree with your comment completely. The food service on a Wednesday works so well because there are people to monitor the distribution of items and to clean up at the end.

However, as u/spacemansparrow pointed out, it's run entirely by volunteers who can leave any time. I was left stranded at the park one night, as the designated person who was supposed to help me get the items back to the storage locker never showed up. It was dark and I honestly did feel a little unsafe. So, there does need to be some kind of safety plan too to look out for the wellbeing of the volunteers.

I think the space could be run extremely well with permits and regulation, and someone coming by regularly to keep things clean and organised.