food not Banks

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Lawrence Journal-World

Free meal with a message

Food Not Banks alters its name to match anticapitalist views

Sunday, February 5, 2006

 

An old group with a new name is doing its part to help feed

Lawrence.

 

Members of Food Not Banks are serving meals twice a week at

the corner of Ninth and Massachusetts streets, outside US Bank.

 

The group is a renamed version of the Food Not Bombs

chapters that sprung up around the country in the 1980s.

 

" For the people in this town, " Jordan Ferrand-Sapsis said,

" it's less about the name and more about the services we

provide. "

 

But the name change has attracted attention.

 

Keith McHenry, who co-founded Food Not Bombs in

Massachusetts in the 1980s, said except for the rare,

typically temporary exception, it was the first time he

heard of a Food Not Bombs group altering its name.

 

" Usually, a group will change names because it's an

anti-bank protest for a week or something, " he said. " It's

surprising to hear that they've kept it for so long. "

 

The group is only peripherally connected to the Lawrence

Food Not Bombs group that used to serve in South Park in the

late 1990s, when McHenry was here working with the Leonard

Peltier Defense Committee.

 

That group disbanded soon after he left. Then, in February

2004, the Lawrence branch of the Industrial Workers of the

World union and Kansas Mutual Aid members began a new

chapter -- changing the name to reflect its anticapitalist

stance.

 

Eight people showed up early Wednesday night for the meal,

but the group is about more than free food. Members also

take stands for animal rights, and against nuclear power and

war.

 

" It's kind of a twice-weekly protest, " Ferrand-Sapsis said.

 

And for some of the group's volunteers, it's an opportunity

not only to help hungry residents or protest banks, but also

a time to share a meal with others.

 

Today, volunteer and Kansas University student Marta

Buechler said, people often rush through their days, eat

fast food and rarely break bread with others.

 

At their bi-weekly feedings, anyone who wants food can get a

free hot dish, sit on a concrete planter or a lawn chair and

chat with others from the community.

 

" Sitting down and eating a meal is so important, " Buechler said.

 

 

 

 

 

" I challenge anyone to live on my salary " [$158,000 a year].

Tom Delay