We are a loose knit group of independent collectives, but we do share several unifying principles that define us as Food Not Bombs.
They are:
Food Scarcity is a myth! Enough food is wasted each day to feed everyone who is hungry. Food Not Bombs recovers healthy nutritious vegetarian food that would have been otherwise discarded and prepares and serves it to people. We collect food from produce warehouses and grocery stores, such as the East-End Food Co-op, that might be unsalable because it no longer has the necessary esthetics.
Rather then relying on a system of winner take all, or some top-down heirarchy, Food Not Bombs believes that every member of the group should have a full opportunity to participate in shaping all the group's decisions. The consensus process insures that the will of the majority doesn't dismiss the values and contributions of everyone else. Consensus process forces us to resolve conflicts through negotiation and compromise rather than overruling and censoring.
Our society is dominated by violence. The authority and power of all governments is based on the threat and use of violence. Our lives are on a constant battlefield. Rule states that: Either you work to eat or you starve and struggle in the streets. Food Not Bombs does not take threats like that lightly. We are serious in our mission to create a society that we want to live in, one that is motivated by love, sharing and understanding not violence, greed and hate. We are creating a movement that challenges the violence of society by the free and open sharing of food and through actions that highlight the injustices of capitalism and poverty. While our society pursues the massive accumulation of wealth for the few it relegates millions to hunger and homelessness. This, combined with police violence, inadequate healthcare and various forms of discrimination deprive each of us of a vibrant and loving way of life. The commercial food industry is also predicated on violence. It involves the slaughtering of millions of animals and the poisoning of our planet through the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. It also allows tons of usable food to go to waste to insure profits. Food Not Bombs serves only vegetarian food and makes every effort to use organic produce.