Correction appended.
Food Not Bombs is a national organization that promotes peace and community partnership over war and food insecurity. The organization is politically charged, and its members identify as leftists who cherish people over power.
At Ohio University, the chapter of Food Not Bombs started having meetings for volunteers in November 2021 by a group of students who were looking for better ways to serve the community in Athens.
Charlie Vieregge, a local tattoo artist, as one of the members who came to the first meeting, found comfort within the organization and its mission of helping people in the community.
“For me, personally, it’s been incredible to be around others who are passionate about the movement,” Vieregge said in an email. “I’ve always known that things aren’t generally accessible in this country and people don’t have access to what they need, but being in (Food Not Bombs) where we can talk and learn about these things and do something about it in a radical way that doesn’t cause more harm or abide by the horrific system, it gives me hope for change.”
Julian Earley, a sophomore studying creative writing and history, said the OU chapter of Food Not Bombs was started to help the community regardless of social status or circumstance.
“Food Not Bombs is a volunteer movement; it’s what it’s considered because it's not a charity,” Earley said. “It's a volunteer movement that has been around since the '80s that's basically about feeding anybody who needs it, no questions asked. It's particularly geared towards (homeless) people or anybody with food insecurity.”
Earley also added information for new members who are looking to join and attend any upcoming meetings.
“We have meetings every other week, but they change depending on the week,” Earley said. “And normally, Mondays, Tuesdays (and) Wednesdays have been one of those days, but we do have on our Instagram. We always announce what day it is, and then through Instagram, we've got links in our bio that you can join our Slack group chat.”
Provided by Julian Earley at Food not Bombs.
Self-described as a politically charged organization, OU’s chapter focuses on “feeding hungry people; homeless or housed, stoned or sober,” according to its Instagram page. Students looking to join the group can come to meetings over Zoom or to the community space, which is located at 54 Morris Ave. in Athens.
Jordan Pazol, an alum of OU who studied environmental studies and biology and uses they/them pronouns, said Food Not Bombs is also politically motivated and criticized the government’s response toward hunger.
“We're also committed to nonviolent social change because we recognize that the government's priorities do not currently align with keeping people fed, housed (and) alive, especially as we're in a global pandemic,” Pazol said. “We see the federal military budget increasing by billions of dollars, where social programs are being cut.”
Pazol emphasized that with food insecurity being a pressing issue in the Athens area and in Appalachia, Food Not Bombs is looking to expand in the near future and work with partners in the community.
“(It would) be great if we could get to doing monthly food handouts,” Pazol said. “We're currently working on figuring out logistics and supplies and everything. We're gonna hopefully get the first one of those started in a couple months, especially when it gets warmer."
Correction: A previous version of this article stated the incorrect spelling of Julian Earley’s name. This article has been updated to reflect the most accurate information.
