Food Not Bombs Newcastle offers fresh hot meals on Wednesday nights served to anyone

"We are a volunteer-run autonomous grass roots anarchist collective," Quinn says. "We are not a charity. We are a community group or a bunch of locals. Calling it an organisation is a bit too formal."

Quinn, 23, is originally from Newcastle, and while he's not the face of Food Not Bombs, he is a core member.

It's not the first Food Not Bombs initiative in Newcastle, which is no surprise, as the all-volunteer association dedicated to nonviolent social change has been active for 40 years and has hundreds of chapters worldwide.

Food Not Bombs started in 1980 in the US by anti-nuclear activists wanting to share free vegetarian food and protest war and poverty. According to their website, the movement has supported actions to stop the globalisation of the economy, restrictions to the movements of people, end exploitation and the destruction of the earth and its beings.

Each group recovers food that would otherwise be thrown out and makes fresh hot meals that are served in outside in public spaces to anyone without restriction.

The Newcastle chapter is 50 to 80 volunteers, but Quinn says on a regular basis it tends to be 20 people at a time. They communicate in person and online via Facebook and Instagram.

"Our membership is informal. Everyone is welcome to join from all abilities, backgrounds and experiences," Quinn says.

"People can come to the park and have a chat with us. We have semi regular meetings and informal skill sharing."

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The Newcastle chapter started when activists in the community organised a meeting in November 2019. Fifty people were at the first meeting and then from there half those numbers continued to come. They started gathering their resources and cooking every Wednesday night. They give away food at the park next to Hamilton Train Station from 5-7pm every Wednesday.

"We cook vegan food always, and we pretty much always have low FODMAP and gluten free options," Quinn says. "Last Wednesday we made a coconut veggie pasta sauce with textured vegetable protein. We try to make enough for 40-50 serves and about that many people come through and eat."

Hunter Organics and Baked Uprising have donated food to them every week since they started and Your Food Collective joined in about nine months ago.

"We've been able to rely on them every week for fresh and local produce. One of our successes is that as an anti-capitalist network, we've been able to sustain ourselves in an economy of sharing food and other resources, without much money," Quinn says.

Sometimes there's a misconception that Food Not Bombs is for people living on the street, but often people they meet are experiencing housing insecurity or other compounding stresses. Food Not Bombs welcome absolutely everyone and share food. They have a free pantry at the location where they store the leftovers for anyone who wants them.

Food Not Bombs also recommends Hunter Homeless Connect, Nova for women and children, Survivors Are Us and Hunter Community Alliance for anyone struggling locally with food and housing issues.

Search Facebook and Instagram Food Not Bombs Newcastle to learn more and get involved.

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