Donya Delsouz SOC 352 Social Change Arizona State

UniversityPhoto retrived from, www.foodnotbombs.net/

THE ISSUE

Billions of Food Waste

Millions Suffer From Hunger

Half of Tax Income Spent on

War and Military

EVOLUTION OF MOVEMENT It will be a great

day when our

schools get all

the money they

need and the air

force has to hold

a bake sale to

buy a bomber

• Food Not Bombs began in 1980 in

Cambridge, Massachusetts by eight young

anti-nuclear activists

• The idea was inspired by this quote:

• Members began by collecting surplus

produce and baked goods from local

grocery stores and would then distribute

it

to shelters and others in need while

simultaneously

marching and protesting against social

issues

• After the arrest of a few volunteers in the

1990’s for public distribution of free food

without a permit, Food Not Bombs

received direct international attention and

media coverage, in which lead to the

exponential growth of its supporters

• Food Not Bombs movement has grown

Information retrieved from, www.foodnotbombs.net/

• The food Not Bombs movement is NOT a

charity: it is solidary. It is using non-violent

direct action to change society so that

food becomes a person’s given right,

rather than a “gift” given through soup

kitchens and food stamps.

• Food Not Bombs is an active movement

where people share free vegetarian food

with the hungry, while simultaneously

protesting war and poverty.

• Food Not Bombs is globally known for

their, “use of non-violent civil-disobedient

direct action to provide an alternative

grassroots response to the destructive

market-driven imperatives of neo-liberal

capitalism.” 1

• Food Not Bombs is non-hierarchical: there

are no leaders.

CURRENT DESCRIPTION OF MOVEMENT

1 Heynen, N. (2010). All other information retrieved from www.foodnotbombs.net/

1. Always vegan or vegetarian

and free to everyone

2. Each chapter is independent

and autonomous and make

decisions using the

consensus process

3. Food not bombs is not a

charity and is dedicated to

nonviolent social change

THREE NOT

BOMBSPRINCIPLES OF FOOD

DESCRIPTION OF MOVEMENT

1. Always free and vegetarian

2. No leaders or directors. All decisions

are made using a process of

consensus.

3. Dedicated to nonviolence as an action

to change society

TYPE OF SOCIAL MOVEMENT

Food Not Bombs falls under a wide array of large social

movements:

• Food Not Bombs began as a Anti-nuclear Movement since it

started with eight anti-nuclear activists who protested in

opposition to nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

• It is also part of the Anti-war Movement, Anti-poverty

Movement, Anti-globalization Movement, and Homeless

Peoples’ Movement. Their main purpose is to highlight the

waste of valuable resources on capital-intensive projects

while many people are suffering from hunger and poverty.

They advocate for more attention to poverty, homelessness,

and hunger, instead of war and military which causes more

death and violence.

Thus, Food Not Bombs falls under the larger category of

Peace and Justice Movement: aim to end war and violent,

through non-violent resistance, support of anti-war political

candidates, and anti-war protests.

• Food Not Bombs is also the leaders of the Free Food

Movement (advocating that food should be available to

everyone as it is our human rights and NOT privilege).Information retrieved from, www.foodnotbombs.net/story.html

TYPE OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTRadical Movement

Food Not Bombs seeks

fundamental change. It

is a radical movement

because Food Not

Bombs believes that

the government system

which is based on

competition and greed

must be replaced by a

new system based on

equitable cooperation

and care for human

needs rather than a

focus on war and

military.

Instrumental Movement

Food Not Bombs,

“seeks to change the

structure of society.”1 It

does this by trying to

change the

government focus on

war and military. It

does this by protesting

to change the tax

dollars being spent on

military expenditures

and war expenses.

Expressive

MovementFood Not Bombs,

“address[es] problems

and needs of individuals

[and] seek[s] to change

the character of

individuals and individual

behavior.”1 By distributing

food in public and visible

areas (all over the world),

Food Not Bombs

attempts to raise

consciousness among

individuals. It aims to

enlighten people of the

prevalence hunger in the

world. It attempt to

change the behavior of

individuals such as

wasting food, eating

meat, and focus

on military.

Progressive

MovementFood Not Bombs is

focused on the future.

It seeks to improve

the conditions of the

poor people who

cannot afford food.

The purpose is the

change the conditions

of the now towards a

better future with no

poverty,

homelessness,

hunger, war, or

violence in any shape

or form.

1 Harper, C. L., Leicht, K. T. (2011). All other information retrieved from www.foodnotbombs.net/

WHY THIS MOVEMENT IS IMPORTANT

There is enough

food to feed 12

billion people, yet

over 900 million

people don’t have

food.1

We can

annihilate world

hunger: our

government

spends $660 per

year on defense,

whereas $30

billion per year is

needed to

eradicate world

hunger.5

49 million

Americans are

food insecure, in

which 7 million

have extremely

low food

security.2

1 www.humaneresearch.org/content/meat-globalization-and-world-hunger 2 www.worldhunger.org/ 3

www.thinkeatsave.org/index.php/stop-wasting-food4 www.foodfirst.org/fr/node/239 5 www.foodnotbombs.net/foodwasteflyer.pdf

WHY I CHOSE THIS MOVEMENT

I live in the City of Los Angeles. While

L.A. County is known for its glamour

and

glitz, after strolling through the

streets it does not take long for one to

look past the bright lights and realize

the indisputable prevalence of

homelessness and hunger. Seeing

homeless people on a daily basis,

struggling to have enough food to

survive

just another day is a heart clenching

sight. I want to

help put a stop to hunger and

homelessness!

I chose Food Not Bombs because I

have a

similar ideology: I too believe that

the

priorities of government are

skewed to

allow hunger to persist. I too

believe that

food is a right NOT a privilege. I

too believe

After reading Peter Menzel’s book

Hungary Planet 1, I was in shock to see

the

food disparity that is prevalent in our

world.

While many have food in abundance,

others have

struggle to have just enough to survive.

I became

aware of

the need to not

waste food or

buy

groceries in

excess

1 www.menzelphoto.com/books/hp.php

MOVEMENT INVOLVEMENT

1. Active

Participant• Donate

• Support Local

Events

• Volunteer

• Write Letters to the

Political Prisoners

2. Personal

Commitment

4. Share and

Promote

5. Organize

Change

• Responsible Consumerism

• Convert to vegetarianism

• Online

Network

• In-person

Network

• Begin Own

Chapter

3. Educate Self

• Educate Self:

Purchase

book

• Food Not Bombs

Free

• Skool

MOVEMENT INVOLVEMENT: 1. Active Participant

• Make an automatic monthly monetary

contribution by signing up here: Monetary

Donation to Food Not Bombs

• Collect cooking and serving equipment's

and other necessary supplies and donating

it to local Food Not Bombs

Donate

Support Local

Events• Like and join Local events pages such as:

www.facebook.com/pages/Los-Angeles-

Food-Not-Bombs

• Help spread the word for local events by

posting flyers around the event

neighborhood

MOVEMENT INVOLVEMENT: 1. Active Participant

Volunteer

• Volunteer at local Food Not Bombs events

• Volunteer by:

Recovering surplus food/produce from

local stores

Cleaning, cutting, & cooking food to make

vegan foods to share

Set up and distribute the food

Write and design banners, flyers, and

signs

Post flyers at cafes, book stores, schools,

and etc.

Design website and share the date and

Write Letters to the Political

Prisoners• Join the monthly Food Not Bombs event of

writing letters to political prisoners to show

support to those who have been unlawfully

arrested for “crime” of feeding the hungry

• Write letters on personal time by visiting

here

MOVEMENT INVOLVEMENT: 2. Personal Commitment

Responsible Consumerism:

Reduce Food Waste • Shop to meet necessity, not in access

• Avoid impulsive buying: use grocery lists

• Don’t be picky about the shape of the produce

• Fill plate to match our capacity instead of in

abundance of choices

• Box leftovers and either share it with someone in

need, or bring it home to eat it for the next meal

• Donate what you won’t use to food banks, shelters,

and soup kitchens

Click For

Helpful Tips

on

Reducing

Food Waste

Convert to

Vegetarianism• Healthier lifestyle choice: less chemicals, cholesterol,

and saturated fat 1

• Dedication to a lifestyle of nonviolence for all beings

including animals

• Protect the environment: prevents global warming,

rainforest destruction,

• and pollution while saving resources such as water 1

• 70% of grain and produce is fed to farm animal in the

US: this could feed

900 million people 1

Click For More

Reasons to

Become

Vegetarian/Veg

an

1 www.foodnotbombs.net/why_vegan.pdf

Purchase Book"This is a self-defense

guide for the

compassionate, a

catering cookbook for

the generous, and a

history of social

change, but above all

it's a hymn to

compassion."

Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved

Click to Purchase

Click for Free Skool

Website

• Learn the history of social change

• Learn how to help end poverty and war with Food Not

Bombs

• Learn how to provide meals for groups of 100 or more

• Learn vegetarian recipes to cook

• Learn how to organize successful campaigns of

nonviolent direct action

Click for Application Link

Go to the Free Skool

Workshop

MOVEMENT INVOLVEMENT: 3. Educate

• Fill out and send in the application to participate

attend the Free Skool in Taos, New Mexico, from May

1st, 2014, to October 1st, 2014

• Join to seek knowledge about social change,

economic justice, a sustainable future and more.

• Take free classes to learn about community

organization, strategies and methods for campaigns

of nonviolent social change, cooking, baking, and

food preservation, and organizing cultural events in

support of social changeBook photo and information retrieved from www.foodnotbombs.net/ Free Skool photo and information retrieved

from www.fnb-freeskool.org

MOVEMENT INVOLVEMENT: 4. Share and Promote the

Movement Online Network

In-Person Network

• Follow, subscribe, like, and join local Food Not

Bombs web pages

• Invite friends and family to join

• Promote the movement by displaying ads for the

Hungry for Peace book (Click here for ads).

• Share links on social media, to the website where

people can purchase Food Not Bombs items (Click

here for link).

• Share on social media the link to make donations

(Click here for link)

• Share local event information on social media

Continuously update followers with current impacts

of the movement

• Share videos, documentaries, and pictures on

social media

• Purchase Food Not Bombs merchandise such as

their T-Shirts and wear it to support and promote

the movement (Click here to purchase)

• Word of mouth: tell family and friends about the

movement

• Print flyers about the work that local Food Not

Bombs is supporting, and post them at any place

where people will read and enjoy them

• Print ads for the Hungry for Peace book and post Information retrieved from www.foodnotbombs.net/

PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT: 5. Organize Change

• I have noticed that Irvine, California, does not yet have a Food

Not Bombs chapter. This is the location where my mother lives

and I would like to eventually start a Food Not Bombs chapter in

this community. I will begin doing so by:

Purchasing a Food Not Bombs Start up kit which includes a full

color banner, a handbook, a DVD, buttons, and flyers.

Following the Seven Steps to Organizing a Local Food Not Bomb.

1. Create a food Not Bombs page on Facebook and MySpace. Post

group and contact information on the pages and on

www.foodnotbombs.net so people can reach this Chapter.

2. Make flyers with contact information followed by time, date and

location of planned meetings. Distribute these flyers digitally and

print form.

Use the sample flyer as a template

3. Arrange to have access to a vehicle.

4. Search for sources of food.

5. Build relationship with other food programs by delivering

collected food to shelter, soup kitchens and food pantries.

6. Set aside a portion of the collected food to prepare meals and

serve it on local streets with literature about Food Not Bombs as

well as current issues.

7. Once there are enough volunteers, pick a highly visible location

Begin Own

Chapter

Information and photo retrieved from www.foodnotbombs.net/

MY VISION OF THE FUTURE“Nonviolence direct action seeks to create such a crisis and

foster such a tension that a community which has constantly

refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks to

so dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

50% of U.S. citizens income tax goes to pay for war

and military expenditures, while 25,000 people die

because of lack of food.1 I hope this non-violent

movement reaches all people who want to build a

peaceful and just world. With the help of this

movement I hope that in the future people will become

aware of the positive change that tax dollars can

provide, instead of being spent on killing more people

in war. I hope that in the future, all people will be

inspired to join forces and protest against taxes spent

on war and military instead of food to feed the

hungry and ending homelessness. It is then where

we can see my vision of the future, a world of

Peace where, “our schools have all the money

they need, and our air force has to have a

bake-sale to buy a bomber.”

-Robert Fulghum1 www.warresisters.org/pages/2009_piechart-BW.pdf

MY VISION OF THE FUTURE

• If everyone in the U.S. becomes inspired to

participate in strategies that inhibit wasting food,

we will save $43,052,480,000 annually. 1

• The less food we waste, the less food we

purchase: Leads to a lower global demand for

food, decrease in food prices globally, and an

end to the struggle of affording food. 2

• If people in the U.S. become vegetarian, we

could feed 800 million people with the grain

that is fed to livestock. 3

• If people eat a more plant based diet, we can

save many wildlife from becoming extinct, we

can reduce animal suffering, we can reduce

carbon gas emissions, and we can conserve

our rain forests. 3

1 Jones, T. (2005). 2 www.foodnotbombs.net/foodwasteflyer.pdf 3 www.foodnotbombs.net/why_vegan.pdf

MY VISION OF THE FUTURE

With income taxes going towards

human resources, with less food

being wasted, and more plant

based diets, the world could be a

much better place. There

will no longer be anyone suffering

from food shortage and a lack of

nutrition. Hunger, homelessness,

and poverty will become history.

Food will be acknowledged as a

right, not a privilege. Food prices

will decline dramatically. Less of

the Earths energy will be used

up. With less meat consumption,

diseases will sufficiently

decrease. The Earth will have

more available water. There will

be no wars and disputes will be

handled peacefully. In the future I Photo retrieved from: www.foodnotbombs.net

SUSTAIN MOVEMENT IN THE LONG-TERM

Volunteer

Have a Food

Not Bombs

Chapter in

every city in

the world

Taking

necessary

procedures

to prevent

wasting

food

Increased

plant

based diet

Don’t let

anyone

you know

stay

hungry

Continuou

sly spread

the word

and

increase

awareness

Joining

local events

and protest

Video retrieved from, www.foodnotbombs.net/foodnotbombsFINALMIX.mov

REFERENCESHarper, C. L., & Leicht, K. T. (2011). Exploring social change: America and the world. Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Heynen, N. (2010). Cooking up Non-violent Civil-disobedient Direct Action for the Hungry: 'Food Not

Bombs' and the Resurgence of Radical Democracy in the US. Urban Studies Journal, 47(6), 1225-

1240. Retrieved November 25, 2013, from http://

usj.sagepub.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/content/47/6/1225.full.pdf+html

Jones, T. (2005). Using Applied Anthropology to Understand Food Loss in the American Food

System. Trade Journals, 46(5), 6-8. Retrieved

November 29, 2013, from

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/docview/236888023/fulltext?accountid=4485

www.foodfirst.org/fr/node/239

www.foodnotbombs.net/

www.foodnotbombs.net/foodwasteflyer.pdf

www.foodnotbombs.net/why_vegan.pdf

www.humaneresearch.org/content/meat-globalization-and-world-hunger

www.menzelphoto.com/books/hp.php

www.thinkeatsave.org/index.php/stop-wasting-food

www.worldhunger.org/

www.warresisters.org/pages/2009_piechart-BW.pdf