Helping to solve food insecurity on the Palouse

Caoilinn Phoenix, 10, discovered she absolutely loves kale chips Monday during the first Food Not Bombs feeding held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse in Moscow.

The Moscow resident loved the kale chips so much she went back for second and third helpings.

The chips were one of the many vegan and vegetarian foods community members helped themselves t o during the event.

Anyone who stopped by the church was welcome to take day-old cakes, pies, donuts and breads donated by Safeway. Fruit salad and lemonade made were donated by Palouse Juice, and sodas were donated by Rants & Raves Brewery, said Henri Sivula, co-founder of the Food Not Bombs on the Palouse chapter.

Co-founder Sage Francetich said what started off as a Friday night tradition of cooking with friends quickly became a mission to reduce food waste and insecurity on the Palouse.

"If we were going to be cooking for ourselves, why not cook for others too?" he said.

Francetich said his friend Aaron Babino told him about Food Not Bombs, a national activist group that focuses on solidarity instead of charity, and the three friends decided to form a Palouse chapter.

"(Food Not Bombs) is not about helping the less fortunate but about building camaraderie in the community - this is free food for everyone," Babino said.

Francetich said he would like to see 20 or 30 people attending the meals in the future, but he is happy to be serving anyone who is in need of food.

"If we are feeding one person who is hungry or a hundred people, it is all the same. It feels good," Francetich said.

Sivula said people are encouraged to eat as much as they want and they can even take food home to others.

"We will fill you up," he said.

Sivula said the goal for Food Not Bombs on the Palouse is to offer meals at least once a week, and it is currently looking to find businesses that can consistently donate leftover food.

"We have gotten a really great response from the community," Sivula said.

Sivula said one of the biggest struggles the new chapter had to overcome in preparation for its first feeding was obtaining enough freezer space. Currently, the food is being stored in freezers of generous volunteers and businesses through out Moscow, he said.

"(The chapter) really got started on the basic notion that we knew food waste was an issue," Francetich said. "Right now, we are going to keep it simple. We are in Moscow right now, and eventually we are going to look at distributing in rural communities and in Pullman as well."

Katie Short can be reached at (208) 883-4633, or by email to kshort@dnews.com.