Food Not Bombs is a loose-knit group of independent collectives, serving free vegan and vegetarian food to others. Food Not Bombs' ideology is that myriad corporate and government priorities are skewed to allow hunger to persist in the midst of abundance. To demonstrate this (and to reduce costs), a large amount of the food served by the group is surplus food that would otherwise go to waste from grocery stores, bakeries and markets.

Food Not Bombs is an effort to feed anyone who is hungry. Each chapter collects surplus food that would otherwise go to waste from grocery stores, bakeries and markets, sometimes incorporating dumpster diving, then prepares it into community meals which are served for free to anyone who is hungry. The central beliefs of the group are:

* If governments and corporations around the world spent as much time and energy on feeding people as they do on war, no one would go hungry.

* There is enough food in the world to feed everyone, but so much of it goes to waste needlessly, as a direct result of capitalism and militarism.

* Vegan food is both healthy and nonviolent.

Food Not Bombs also tries to call attention to poverty and homelessness in society by sharing food in public places and facilitating gatherings of poor, homeless and other disenfranchised people. There are four tenets to the Food Not Bombs philosophy:

* Recycling of food

* Decision making by consensus

* Nonviolence

* Vegetarianism / Veganism

Anyone who wants to cook may cook, and anyone who wants to eat may eat. Food Not Bombs strives to include everyone.