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Food Not Bombs
Food Not Bombs (FNB) is a loose-knit group of independent collectives that distribute free, usually vegan and vegetarian food. This food is typically sourced from donations or from salvaging and then served in public spaces or at activist gatherings. There are about 1,000 FNB collectives in about 60 countries around the world. It is often considered an anarchist or anarchist-inspired group, as well as a form of franchise activism.
The first FNB collective was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by members of the anti-nuclear movement. After hosting a soup kitchen as a form of "street theater", the group dedicated themselves to feeding people full time. In the late 1980s, FNB co-founder Keith McHenry moved to San Francisco, where he founded a second FNB collective amidst a mass houselessness crisis in the area. By the early 1990s, there were about 30 active FNB collectives in both the United States and Canada. Soon after FNB's first international gathering in 1992, more collectives were founded in cities across the world.
FNB collectives have been involved in many mass protest movements, including the anti-globalization movement, the Occupy movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Gaza war protests, often participating in demonstrations and feeding protesters. Some collectives have faced legal reprisals such as tickets and arrests for their foodshares, often due to city permitting laws.
FNB's principles include veganism, vegetarianism, the distribution of free food, group autonomy, consensus decision-making, and nonviolent direct action. Many of its members are migrant workers, punks, underemployed people, unhoused people, and university students organized as unpaid volunteers. Some scholars note the transgressive nature of FNB's activism. Others discuss its foodshares as a form of altruistic gift-giving.
During the early 1960s, the New Left emerged as a social force in the United States. Associated with groups like the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the New Left advocated for participatory democracy and greater rights for minorities while opposing the Vietnam War. By the late 1970s, many New Left groups had fractured. However, a new style of radicalism also emerged during the 1970s. This style was defined by its belief in decentralized structures, feminist-inspired politics, and the use of anarchist methods like affinity groups and direct action.
Many activists from the 1970s anti-nuclear movement adopted this style. Among these activists, members of the Clamshell Alliance, originally founded in 1976 to oppose the construction of the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire, protested against the nuclear power industry using direct action tactics such as occupations and guerrilla gardening. Between 1976 and 1977, the alliance occupied the Seabrook plant three times. In 1979, after a debate about another potential occupation, an alliance faction split off to form the Coalition for Direct Action at Seabrook, which organized two failed occupation attempts: one in 1979 and one in 1980.
During the 1980 occupation, coalition member Brian Fiegenbaulm was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer. To raise money to cover his legal expenses, a group of coalition members in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts organized a bake sale. Dressed in military uniforms and holding a sign that said, "I'm waiting for the day when schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale for a bomber", they sold pastries in Boston.
On March 26, 1981, after Fiegenbaulm was released, the group organized a soup kitchen across from the First National Bank of Boston, which was one of the sponsors for the Seabrook plant. Dressed as "hobos", they hoped to evoke the soup kitchens of the Great Depression through what one of the group's members, Keith McHenry, later called "street theater". They also handed out leaflets saying that contemporary government policies would lead to widespread houselessness. Between 50 and 70 people ate at the kitchen, and soon after, the group decided to dedicate themselves to feeding people full time.
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Food Not Bombs
Food Not Bombs (FNB) is a loose-knit group of independent collectives that distribute free, usually vegan and vegetarian food. This food is typically sourced from donations or from salvaging and then served in public spaces or at activist gatherings. There are about 1,000 FNB collectives in about 60 countries around the world. It is often considered an anarchist or anarchist-inspired group, as well as a form of franchise activism.
The first FNB collective was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by members of the anti-nuclear movement. After hosting a soup kitchen as a form of "street theater", the group dedicated themselves to feeding people full time. In the late 1980s, FNB co-founder Keith McHenry moved to San Francisco, where he founded a second FNB collective amidst a mass houselessness crisis in the area. By the early 1990s, there were about 30 active FNB collectives in both the United States and Canada. Soon after FNB's first international gathering in 1992, more collectives were founded in cities across the world.
FNB collectives have been involved in many mass protest movements, including the anti-globalization movement, the Occupy movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Gaza war protests, often participating in demonstrations and feeding protesters. Some collectives have faced legal reprisals such as tickets and arrests for their foodshares, often due to city permitting laws.
FNB's principles include veganism, vegetarianism, the distribution of free food, group autonomy, consensus decision-making, and nonviolent direct action. Many of its members are migrant workers, punks, underemployed people, unhoused people, and university students organized as unpaid volunteers. Some scholars note the transgressive nature of FNB's activism. Others discuss its foodshares as a form of altruistic gift-giving.
During the early 1960s, the New Left emerged as a social force in the United States. Associated with groups like the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the New Left advocated for participatory democracy and greater rights for minorities while opposing the Vietnam War. By the late 1970s, many New Left groups had fractured. However, a new style of radicalism also emerged during the 1970s. This style was defined by its belief in decentralized structures, feminist-inspired politics, and the use of anarchist methods like affinity groups and direct action.
Many activists from the 1970s anti-nuclear movement adopted this style. Among these activists, members of the Clamshell Alliance, originally founded in 1976 to oppose the construction of the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire, protested against the nuclear power industry using direct action tactics such as occupations and guerrilla gardening. Between 1976 and 1977, the alliance occupied the Seabrook plant three times. In 1979, after a debate about another potential occupation, an alliance faction split off to form the Coalition for Direct Action at Seabrook, which organized two failed occupation attempts: one in 1979 and one in 1980.
During the 1980 occupation, coalition member Brian Fiegenbaulm was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer. To raise money to cover his legal expenses, a group of coalition members in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts organized a bake sale. Dressed in military uniforms and holding a sign that said, "I'm waiting for the day when schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale for a bomber", they sold pastries in Boston.
On March 26, 1981, after Fiegenbaulm was released, the group organized a soup kitchen across from the First National Bank of Boston, which was one of the sponsors for the Seabrook plant. Dressed as "hobos", they hoped to evoke the soup kitchens of the Great Depression through what one of the group's members, Keith McHenry, later called "street theater". They also handed out leaflets saying that contemporary government policies would lead to widespread houselessness. Between 50 and 70 people ate at the kitchen, and soon after, the group decided to dedicate themselves to feeding people full time.