I recently decided to do mutual aid for the first time, and decided to look into my city's Food Not Bombs chapter. I know that the org is basically completely decentralized and every chapter does its own thing and there's no hierarchy, etc. But I was under the assumption that FNB was at least completely vegetarian (and I know some chapters are completely vegan), and no meat is supposed to be served, in large part because of potential safety issues with serving meat, and also because they want to stop exploitation of both people and animals, and don't believe in violence against animals. That's what it says on their main website, anyways.
I've only been to the meal shares a few times, and while I did notice some vegetarian stuff the first time, there was also vegan stuff too, including the meal I brought. But then the last couple of times, there have been dishes with meat. And I was going to go today but there were several people who were explicitly making dishes with meat in them in the group chat with the intent to bring them, and it rubbed me the wrong way, so I stayed home instead.
I don't think this chapter is prioritizing food safety at all, either. Like some of those meat and dairy dishes sit out for over a few hours without being kept cooled or heated at a safe temperature. And the first time I ever went to a meal share, someone I was serving food to said they got very sick from a previous meal share, and yeah, I'm not fucking surprised at all. It also seems extremely disorganized, no one labels any of the food they bring besides me, despite people repeatedly asking through the meal share if things are vegetarian or vegan-friendly. I live in a bigger city, too, so I'm unpleasantly surprised by all of this, tbh.
I don't know if I'm being overzealous with my venting and maybe my expectations of doing mutual aid are a lot different than reality, but, idk, I don't think I am?
I honestly feel like just ditching the org entirely, serving the omni food others are bringing is gross to me anyways, ngl. I have since found a couple of mutual aid groups in the area that explicitly serve vegan/plant-based food only, and I'm thinking of doing that instead.
Besides food safety and ethical reasons, meat tends to be more expensive or at least harder to acquire, and it is also far easier to accommodate dietary restrictions (religious or otherwise) by not serving meat.
I did a bit of volunteering with a pop-up FNB chapter for a few months and although it didn't last very long and used an indoor kitchen, everything was definitely vegetarian.
mine is as well, although not everyone whos involved is vegan
and the way this one is described kinda sounds like a potluck where everyone just brings in some meal they cooked on their own at home? rather than a group of people cooking big batches of food together? thats really strange for a food not bombs, and while its maybe not a huge thing like the meat is, it seems to not really fully fit the spirit of the org either
Yes, besides donations from local places, a lot of the prepared food is very potluck-esque for sure. There isn't any group doing big batch cooking at this chapter.
That is a very different dynamic to the FNB i know. It sounds kind of sketchy imo
Thanks for the feedback, I'm not really invested in this chapter at all since I only just started, so yeah, I think I would rather just ditch them and join one of these other mutual aid groups I found in the area lol
That's so different from FNB's core ethos that I'm not sure I'd even think of it as the same org/a chapter of that org.
Not vegan, but this article I think covers some of the decision making on why meat might be used, specifically the section An Unorthodox Chapter Of An Ostensibly Unorthodox Organization.
I will say though the food safety part is very concerning, and the usage of vegan meals because of this makes a lot of sense.
very disappointing to read from peter gelderloos of all people
there are quite strong anarchist critiques of food not bombs and similar service-provision mutual aid groups because they walk such a fine line with being functionally indistinguishable from bourgeois charity rather than part of an actual radically political program (i should note that these critiques are not saying that charitably feeding the homeless isnt a good thing to do of course, just that theyre not political praxis). i dont 100% agree with these critiques and i think food not bombs is a really worthwhile group (that ive also had some involvement with), but they raise important points that i think need to be kept front-of-mind. and if youre going to try to walk that line, you absolutely cant abandon your core principles just because its a bit more convenient
the height of hypocrisy to label yourselves with a group that is even named for its opposition to unnecessary violence, and then feed people food thats full of unnecessary violence
heres a decent twitter thread with some linked articles - one of the articles is from a more marxist perspective too although the arguments are very similar
i think theyre definitely right about the charity trap and the need for such groups to keep their actual aims front-of-mind, but i think my counterpoints would focus on:
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even if it isnt a threat to the state itself, an explicitly socialist mutual aid group is potentially able to pivot to support activities that are a threat to the state. e.g. feeding striking workers to prolong their ability to strike, which your local salvation army sure as shit isnt ever going to do. i think that kind of support work is potentially more valuable than just extra numbers on the pickets.
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in times like these where the left is small and fragmented, its hard to do praxis that leads to substantive meaningful change anyway. bringing together and building community networks among like-minded leftwing people is real and important work right now, just about as much as anything else is, and mutual aid groups are great ways to build and reinforce such networks
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the skills and knowledge and logistics for how to feed a whole group of people (or whatever other activity) cant just spring up overnight - its not as straightforward as people might think, and its a valuable set of "institutional" skills and knowledge. its a good way to ensure such skills are prevalent in leftist communities, and help communities "hit the ground running" if/when times get really dire or suddenly spicy
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it promotes vegan food as normal and good, and food as a right for all, and provides a vision of what a better world might look like as an antidote against the crushing weight of capitalist realism
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all of this stuff is in the context of an activity that also feeds the hungry, which is a solid, concrete good even if it turns out to be useless from a pure political praxis perspective. and apart from being good in its own right, just doing something objectively good and useful is a valuable antidote to burnout from activism that so often ends in failure and that voice in your head saying "whats the point of any of this?"
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Continue to feed the hungry, absolutely, but never ever shut up about :vegan-liberation:
I mean if there's a real food safety issue then that's a problem, but otherwise yeah
OK, but there is a safety component to feeding the hungry and serving them food that's more susceptible to making them sick if not tended to properly, independent of the ethical argument for veganism.
Maybe try reading my post next time instead of being so glib about it.
I did FNB for like 10 years but I’m drunk and I’m not reading all this.
FNB is supposed to serve vegan food to anybody who wants it in a public place at an advertised time and date. IDK what else there is to say.
Tl;dr anyone?
They're serving meat and also failing at food safety, making people sick and causing confusion about what's vegetarian or not. Things are not being labeled, either. this is an FNB chapter in a big city, apparently.
Yeah, I went to my local FnB chapter and not only were they serving milk and pastries, a member told me that they would serve meat if it was brought in. And I overhead someone talking about preparing chicken meals.
What a fucking joke. I'm so disappointed goddamnit.
Yeah, it sucks. I ultimately decided to stop going to my own chapter, it was extremely disorganized anyways.
yeah, I think I might keep going for a bit to see if there are any other disappointed vegans. I need to find out about vegan groups in my city and that might be a good way of going about it.
Since when was food not bombs carnist?
That's fucking bizarre.
Probably from that idpol shitlib "leftism" virus infecting real movements calling veganism racist like the white western imperialists they are.
