Giving Thanks, Part II: Food Not Bombs

I am thankful for the ability to put my ideals in action.

This past weekend I had the chance to partake in a very special event hosted by Long Island Food Not Bombs. I helped share thousands of pounds of packaged foods, hot, prepared vegan dishes, fruits, vegetables, clothing and books with the people in Hempstead, Long Island. Though LIFNB share healthy vegan food three times a week on Long Island (in Hempstead, Huntington and Farmingville), November 21st’s Thanksgiving Food Share Bonanza was their biggest in history. And though I am always a bit apprehensive about a day spent on Long Island, I left feeling very thankful I was there.

To explain a bit of my L.I. apprehension (and to get all David Copperfield), I was born and raised on Long Island. As a Brooklyn resident for the last seven years, I still am geographically upon that same stretch of that very long island. Though I have often thought Long Island and Brooklyn to be worlds apart, it is on Long Island where I became who I am, where I established my ideals and values… where, out of the alienation of suburban sprawl, I rebelled through music, doing zines and acquiring a passe of misfits all similarly stifled by the lack of substance we saw in the maze of strip malls we were trapped within. (Now, these misfits are still my closest friends. We’re ex-pat war-buddies who made it out of the oppressive trenches.) I hated Long Island. So much that when I first left my parents’ house, my new home would be on the other side of the country in Seattle, Washington.

But meeting the amazing volunteers and seeing the passion of the LIFNB gang, I realized that this Long Island was different than I remembered. This Long Island was solidarity, change and ideals in action (as opposed to ideals running away across the country, in my case). It was humbling and inspiring and I was glad to have the opportunity to give back to my old home.

Below is some of the fruits and veggies handed to the eager line of folks, ready with bags and shopping carts.

I’ll admit, it was vegan food that had brought me out this Sunday morning to the Hempstead Long Island Rail Road station. And in this capacity I was even more taken aback by Long Island’s finest. The amazing hot plates of food we shared to the community were ample and delicious and all-vegan. Food that volunteers cooked, baked and simmered for hours on end to distribute to a community in need. When I went vegan on Long Island 12 years ago, I had to travel far, far away in my rusty old hatchback, covered in stickers, to get to the only Trader Joe’s that existed in the NY-metro area. Or to Wild Oats in Stony Brook between thrift shopping excursions. This was the pre-Whole Foods explosion. Vegan eats were slim then and not as tasty… and finding another vegan, who wasn’t wearing it like a badge on their Long Island Hardcore boyscouts uniform to prove his righteousness (emphasis intended), even harder to find. (Ah, the inherit sexism in the ol’ liXhc scene. This birthed my zine.)

Anyway, I keep digressing because these are my roots. Mmmmm, root vegetables. Yes, food. We served soy chicken wings, chili, quinoa pilafs, stuffed peppers, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes with Sweet & Sara strawberry marshmallows, mac & cheese, spanakopita, portobello mushrooms, soy chicken nuggets, bean taquitos, cookies, tofu cream pies… My goodness it was hard to not sample all the delicious vegan foods.

So SuperVegan reported this event here and that LIFNB was bestowed a massive quantity of Soyatoo Whip, 2,000 pounds worth, just in time for the holidays. That is how I found out about the event! Though I headed back to Brooklyn with five containers of Soyatoo, I left with so much more: a love for this new Long Island the folks at LIFNB are helping create, the synergy of action and ideals and inspiration to help me be the change I want in the world. What are we tackling next?