Video of arrested volunteers brings viral attention to the decade-plus generosity of KC’s Food Not Bombs

Food service continues for FNBKC. // Photo by Kylie Volavongsa

On Jan. 4, handcuffed in the back of a KCPD vehicle, Wolfgang was thinking only about baby formula. He was concerned, in the moment, about a mother from the neighborhood who’d become one of many familiar faces. She was one of many individuals who made all of this time, effort, and struggle worth it. What would today’s bizarre collapse in order mean for her?

Wolfgang is an organizer with the Kansas City chapter of Food Not Bombs—an international volunteer-led movement that shares free vegan meals with local communities, no questions asked.

Not long before his arrest, Wolfgang had arrived to work at one of these meal services, which FNBKC holds weekly. These occur on the same public sidewalk where the group has operated uninterrupted for the last 13 years.

Until now.

As FNBKC set up tables of hot meals and donated groceries for a waiting line of neighbors and community members, KCPD personnel arrived to disperse the crowd, citing alleged “trespass violations.”

Later, on Jan. 9, FNBKC posted a video of the arrests to its social media pages, where another organizer, Michael, is seen repeatedly asking the police: “Do you want me to get off of the parking lot?” This is both before and during an officer placing him in handcuffs.

“That was the first time we’ve ever had an interaction with KCPD,” Wolfgang tells The Pitch, “and they showed up with full force. They had the wagon, you know, and that’s there to arrest a lot of people.”

KCPD arrested only two people that evening: Michael and Wolfgang, who hadn’t had the chance to unload containers of baby formula before police arrived.

The remaining Kansas Citians moved to a nearby location after the arrests. There, despite what had just happened, they were still able to share the rest of the formula and food.

“By the community, for the community.” 

FNBKC’s website describes the organization not as a charity, but as a community “dedicated to taking nonviolent direct action.”

“Each meal is a protest,” explains Judi, another FNBKC organizer. “Having our meal in a very visible area is part of that protest. We’re exercising our First Amendment rights and also showing that there’s enough food to feed all of us.”

The USDA estimates that 30% to 40% of all available food in the US goes to waste. They’re numbers Judi compares to the DOD’s current funding, which has reached $2.21 trillion, as of Sept. 2025. In KC alone, meanwhile, previous reporting from KCUR suggests that annually about 400 thousand tons of food enter landfills.

“Here’s this huge number of people who need food, but the government is not lifting anyone out of poverty. Instead, they’re spending billions to bomb other countries,” she says.

Much of what FNBKC distributes was reclaimed from or donated by community gardens, restaurants, and local grocery stores. According to a public statement responding to the arrests, FNBKC shares 60-100 meals every week, along with groceries, clothes, and other supplies.

“We are there every week, snow or shine, and people are waiting on us in the snow. That’s how important it is to the people that need our service,” Wolfgang says.

Screenshot of KCPD vs. FNBKC.

Rising tensions 

In response to FNBKC’s Facebook video, the official KCPD profile replied in the comments with a statement claiming that the arrests occurred Jan. 1; that Michael and Wolfgang have been trespassed multiple times; and that they “were asked to leave by surrounding businesses and refused to do so.”

It’s worth noting, though, that the arrests happened three days after that date. Michael and Wolfgang also say they weren’t previously trespassed. KCPD has since issued a correction to its comment, stating that it took an initial report from residents and businesses Jan. 1 and then responded Jan. 4.

FNBKC still asserts that Michael and Wolfgang have no previous trespassing charges.

As for their refusal to leave, Michael is heard saying in the video that he “will gladly get off the parking lot,” while a person in the background asks if they can stand on the public sidewalk.

An officer replies: “If you go on the sidewalk, you are blocking the sidewalk, and you are not allowed to do that either.”

The KCPD website currently lists FNBKC as a community resource—including the location at which the two were arrested.

Screenshot from the KCPD community resource list, featuring FNBKC and the address.

FNBKC’s meal services began at that sidewalk when the nearby parking lot belonged to a vacant Cosentino’s Apple Market. At the time, a restrictive covenant clause prevented the opening of a new grocery store in its place.

“That hurt the neighborhood,” Judi says, “so that’s why everyone set up there. People were used to going there for food, and suddenly, there’s no food there. And when they get off the bus, they expect to be able to get groceries—can’t do it now. So, we were there as a response to a food desert.”

Since the opening of Family Dollar and other nearby businesses, FNBKC has acknowledged complaints, for instance, about trash and littering. In response, the group has brought their own trash cans on-site and has taken responsibility for keeping the area clear during and after meal service. They’ve also instructed all involved in the day’s operation to use street parking, rather than the businesses’ parking lots.

“We have tried to work with them. We have looked for any solution, asked for any possible solution that they can give to us, and the only thing that they want is for us to leave, nothing else. And it just kind of escalated since then,” Wolfgang says.

Moving along

Despite the arrests, spirits remain high. Michael mentions old friends, friends from other cities, and an outpouring of interest in supporting FNBKC’s mission.

Meanwhile, a week after the arrests, FNBKC continued meal service at the same intersection of Independence and Monroe Ave., just on a quieter side of the block. On the menu: spiced rice, eggplant, barbecue mushroom sandwiches, and quite a bit more.

“We’re adapting,” Michael says of their location. “We’re trying to stay as close to where we regularly serve as possible, because that’s where people count on us to be. But we’re a little uncomfortable saying, ‘Oh, here’s the plan, because we think there’s going to be another police response.’”

In terms of safety, he suggested that those concerned about police presence might want to hold off on stopping by for the rest of the month, while the group figures out a new setup.

“There are a lot of ways to help without being there in the thick of things,” Michael says. Those who can connect FNBKC with grocery stores, restaurants, and other places to gather donations from what would otherwise go to waste. Wolfgang includes the org’s wish for a box truck to carry what supplies their ragtag collective of sedans and pick-up trucks cannot.

But, as supporters hopped from those trunk beds with bread and firewood and yuca roots last Sunday, it was clear that they’d continue to do for the neighborhood what they’d done for the past 13 years—uninterrupted, even if others try to tell them no.

Food, after all, is protest.

For those interested, a list of accepted donations is available at https://fnbkc.org/donate.