Collective Aims to Feed Hungry, Fuel Change
Dan Clore
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
http://tinyurl.com/47nxrj
Collective aims to feed hungry, fuel change
CAFE members live together in Chinatown, hold political talks and serve
meals to poor.
By Hannah Franklin / The Fresno Bee
04/26/08 23:16:30
For information about Fresno Collective for Arts, Freedom & Ecology
events, visit
http://www.cafefresno.org
or
http://www.myspace.com/cafefresno
In an old restaurant on quiet F Street in the heart of historic
Chinatown, Becky Asami and six of her friends are stocking food,
chopping vegetables and preparing meals.
But they're not making any money, and they hope they never do.
Their venture -- the Fresno Collective for Arts, Freedom & Ecology -- is
on a mission to feed the hungry and fuel change. They denounce
capitalism. They promote anarchist ideals.
They've set up shop in the middle of an area where others are trying to
breathe new economic life into what once was a thriving business
district. Now Chinatown has more than its share of boarded-up
storefronts, but CAFE members have mixed feelings about economic
revitalization.
"If we were to put up just a Starbucks and a Wal-Mart, we'd be selling
ourselves short," said Asami, 24, a substitute teacher and one of the
original residents of the collective.
Asami and the other CAFE members live in the upper portion of the store.
Their decorations are eclectic: bamboo stalks, a purple picket fence, a
bicycle sculpture, a colorful mosaic that reads: "total liberation."
The idea for the collective was born a few years ago as a dream to
create a thriving community center. Asami said she was already involved
in Food Not Bombs -- an effort to feed the hungry with surplus and
donated food -- and she joined up with other activists who had found a
place in Chinatown to spread their roots.
"If you are trying to be conscious of your ecological footprint, living
in community just makes sense," Asami said.
CAFE found its home two years ago in the old Golden Mar Chinese food
restaurant. Asami said the collective is still a work in progress and
currently is renovating the downstairs kitchen area and remodeling the
walk-in refrigerator.
Why Chinatown? "It was cheaper," Asami said. Plus it's close to
downtown, where many of the group's efforts are focused.
The collective is just down F Street from the offices of Chinatown
Revitalization Inc.
Kathy Omachi, vice president of Chinatown Revitalization, said she
hasn't discussed capitalism with her CAFE neighbors.
"They seem like very nice people," Omachi said. "We wish them the best
like anyone who takes a chance with us."
Members of the collective come from various backgrounds. Some are
students, some have jobs. But everyone is asked to pay $300 for their
monthly rent and serve in the community.
"It teaches you to pay more attention to people around you, and what
people are going through," said Logan Siler, 23, a CAFE member and
Fresno City College student.
Kyle Hunt, 19, who joined the collective in December, said living and
working with CAFE has helped him become a better version of himself.
"I'm a giving person, so this helps me bring out the best in myself,"
said Hunt, who said he works in sales and marketing.
On Sundays the group can be found in Courthouse Park in downtown Fresno,
serving free vegan meals to the homeless. On Wednesdays, members pass
out fresh groceries to low-income families near University Medical Center.
"I don't eat this healthy unless I come down here," said Michael Cabibi,
36, who was among over a dozen people served in Courthouse Park on a
recent Sunday afternoon. "We really need this."
Along with serving food for the stomach, CAFE hopes to dish up some food
for thought.
CAFE hosts events throughout the year. There's a self-defense class, a
"womyns" discussion group, and talks on Marxist and anarchist ideals.
In the back of the restaurant, where the smell of rice and savory
noodles may have once simmered, CAFE has established a library with a
wide range of revolutionary literature.
"It's a place where our ideals and lifestyles can have a place to grow,"
said CAFE member Ashley Fairburn, a 24-year-old Fresno State student who
is majoring in women's studies and history.
But CAFE members have not completely abandoned capitalism. They hope
eventually to purchase the Golden Mar building.
[And owning their own home would have what to do with capitalism, the
ownership-and-control of the means of production by an elite class of
capitalists rather than the workers themselves? Looks to me like a
perfect fit with anarchist ideals.--DC]
"It's easy to take it for granted that I have this great space," Asami
said. "I'm lucky."
The reporter can be reached at hfra...@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6308.
--
Dan Clore
My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://tinyurl.com/2gcoqt
Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://tinyurl.com/292yz9
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
Skipper: Professor, will you tell these people who is
in charge on this island?
Professor: Why, no one.
Skipper: No one?
Thurston Howell III: No one? Good heavens, this is anarchy!
-- _Gilligan's Island_, episode #6, "President Gilligan"
Aardvark
> Collective aims to feed hungry, fuel change
> CAFE members live together in Chinatown, hold political talks and serve
> meals to poor.
> By Hannah Franklin / The Fresno Bee
> 04/26/08 23:16:30
>>
> Chinatown, Becky Asami and six of her friends are stocking food,
> chopping vegetables and preparing meals.
very commendable that they chose *voluntarily* to feed the hungry.
below in the text is where they blindly trip over their own socialist
ideals.
> But they're not making any money, and they hope they never do.
but they want to buy a restaurant. ludwig von mises is turning over in
his grave. anyone that says "genius" and "communism" in the same
sentence is a prime candidate for a brain transplant.
> Their venture -- the Fresno Collective for Arts, Freedom & Ecology -- is
> on a mission to feed the hungry and fuel change. They denounce
> capitalism. They promote anarchist ideals.
anarchist? puh-leez...
big government is the socialist's credo and always has been. their
version of "anarchism" is simply a very thinly veiled smokescreen to
hide the fact that they wish (at least claim to) in theory, to tear
down gov't and replace it with nothing. isn't that what *true
anarchism* really is, a lack of government?
what they really want is to destroy our semi-socialist big government
and replace it with an even bigger totally socialist government.
> They've set up shop in the middle of an area where others are trying to
> breathe new economic life into what once was a thriving business
> district. Now Chinatown has more than its share of boarded-up
> storefronts, but CAFE members have mixed feelings about economic
> revitalization.
>
> "If we were to put up just a Starbucks and a Wal-Mart, we'd be selling
> ourselves short," said Asami, 24, a substitute teacher and one of the
> original residents of the collective.
great ceasar's ghost! she teaches kids. probably tells 'em ben
franklin owned slaves (he didn't) and gets the tykes to throw darts at
his picture because he was a "dreaded founding father" & believed in
real freedom.
> Asami and the other CAFE members live in the upper portion of the store.
> Their decorations are eclectic: bamboo stalks, a purple picket fence, a
> bicycle sculpture, a colorful mosaic that reads: "total liberation."
liberation from what? a sick philosophy of socialism/communism/
progressiveism only "liberates" people from their freedom and their
natural ability to thrive if the economic deck isn't stacked against
them with draconian rules & regulations.
> The idea for the collective was born a few years ago as a dream to
> create a thriving community center.
Asami said she was already involved
> in Food Not Bombs -- an effort to feed the hungry with surplus and
> donated food -- and she joined up with other activists who had found a
> place in Chinatown to spread their roots.
donated food. good idea. it works great when nobody has a gun to their
head. how long do you guess before they ask for help from uncle sham
and mess it all up?
"food not bombs" is code for an oversized government that gives out
goodies (so much for true anarchists ideals of the limited state)
instead of making war. a libertarian government doesn't break the
wallets and backs of the people by handing out excess goodies or make
zillions of bombs to drop on our neighbors in the world.
> "If you are trying to be conscious of your ecological footprint, living
> in community just makes sense," Asami said.
if you really want to be conscious of it, try to push for wind and
solar power of industry and vehicles.
question: why can't a communist/socialist build a solar or wind
powered car?
andwer: because he's deathly afraid somebody might make an honest buck
off it.
> CAFE found its home two years ago in the old Golden Mar Chinese food
> restaurant. Asami said the collective is still a work in progress and
> currently is renovating the downstairs kitchen area and remodeling the
> walk-in refrigerator.
>
> Why Chinatown? "It was cheaper," Asami said. Plus it's close to
> downtown, where many of the group's efforts are focused.
>
> The collective is just down F Street from the offices of Chinatown
> Revitalization Inc.
>
> Kathy Omachi, vice president of Chinatown Revitalization, said she
> hasn't discussed capitalism with her CAFE neighbors.
they'd call he a "capitalist pig" and take her money while they curse
her.
> "They seem like very nice people," Omachi said. "We wish them the best
> like anyone who takes a chance with us."
>
> Members of the collective come from various backgrounds. Some are
> students, some have jobs. But everyone is asked to pay $300 for their
> monthly rent and serve in the community.
>
> "It teaches you to pay more attention to people around you, and what
> people are going through," said Logan Siler, 23, a CAFE member and
> Fresno City College student.
>
> Kyle Hunt, 19, who joined the collective in December, said living and
> working with CAFE has helped him become a better version of himself.
>
> "I'm a giving person, so this helps me bring out the best in myself,"
> said Hunt, who said he works in sales and marketing.
>
> On Sundays the group can be found in Courthouse Park in downtown Fresno,
> serving free vegan meals to the homeless.
where's the beef? if god didn't want us to eat animals, he wouldn't
make them taste so good.
yum yum, today's menu:
boiled rocks, gluten free goo surprize, roasted soybeans with vegan
armpit hair, chick peas in nazi sauce, and satellite tv dinners.
On Wednesdays, members pass
> out fresh groceries to low-income families near University Medical Center.
>
> "I don't eat this healthy unless I come down here," said Michael Cabibi,
> 36, who was among over a dozen people served in Courthouse Park on a
> recent Sunday afternoon. "We really need this."
>
> Along with serving food for the stomach, CAFE hopes to dish up some food
> for thought.
>
> CAFE hosts events throughout the year. There's a self-defense class, a
> "womyns" discussion group, and talks on Marxist and anarchist ideals.
in other words a snorefest...zzzzzz...
> In the back of the restaurant, where the smell of rice and savory
> noodles may have once simmered, CAFE has established a library with a
> wide range of revolutionary literature.
>
> "It's a place where our ideals and lifestyles can have a place to grow,"
> said CAFE member Ashley Fairburn, a 24-year-old Fresno State student who
> is majoring in women's studies and history.
>
> But CAFE members have not completely abandoned capitalism. They hope
> eventually to purchase the Golden Mar building.
capitalism works fine for the commies when it suits their needs.
> [And owning their own home would have what to do with capitalism, the
> ownership-and-control of the means of production by an elite class of
> capitalists rather than the workers themselves? Looks to me like a
> perfect fit with anarchist ideals.--DC]
i'm laughing too hard to comment on this one.
> "It's easy to take it for granted that I have this great space," Asami
> said. "I'm lucky."
sheesh!
aardvark