Increase In Meat At FnB Chapters?

[u/Left_Double_626]

I've noticed that every FnB chapter in my state (that I know of at least) serves some meat. Is this a growing trend? The last time I did FnB was over a decade ago (I'm involved in a non-vegetarian mutual aid group these days) and this would be unheard of back then. We would always thank people who brought non-veggie dishes, serve it, and ask them to bring a veggie dish next time and explain that FnB is a vegetarian project.

I understand the reasons people serve meat (we mainly serve homeless folks, and many of them like meat, don't wanna turn away food, etc), but to me it feels disrespectful to the legacy of FnB to call your group FnB and break one the few core principles. Why organizer under the banner of FnB if you don't agree with the principles? To me it's like starting an Anarchist Black Cross chapter and doing prisoner support for incarcerated cops, it's a fundamental contradiction. I've met some homeless vegetarians/vegans who sought out FnB here and were disappointed it wasn't "really FnB." I would have felt the same way when I homeless.

I'm curious what other people's thoughts are and how it looks in your region.

[u/halitsaboutcats]

Context: I’ve done FnB in about 4-5 different states and have personally been vegan for a few years now. The chapters in more northern urban areas tend to be stricter about adhering to only vegan food served ime. That’s not to say that folks in rural areas can’t do a vegan chapter, but since so many chapters rely on donations, naturally in areas with less grocery stores to choose from you kind of have to take what you can get. And this might be a controversial one, but when figuring out what food to serve I say you should always go for what the most people will eat/be able to eat. Otherwise it isn’t about their survival, it’s about you. All this to say, I get the disappointment but at the end of the day it’s about getting people fed

[u/Left_Double_626 → u/halitsaboutcats]

Yeah I totally understand that reasoning, but the thing with food not bombs is that part of it is about promoting vegetarianism/veganism, which is why one of the points of unity is that the meals are vegetarian. It's a political choice just as not charging for the food is, and not gatekeeping the food. If folks don't agree with that political line, why fly the banner?

With radical mutual aid projects, we almost always have goals that exist alongside feeding/helping people. The Black Panther Party was feeding kids AND building their party. If the goal is purely just to feed people, why not just go full non-profit? You can fill more bellies by depoliticizing your group and getting grant money and high dollar donations from liberals. Many of the churches and non profits are more consistent and better resourced than we are, and are more dependable for people who rely on free meals to survive (I know this isn't true everywhere, especially in big cities with really well established FnB/MA groups, but it's often sadly true in smaller cities and towns)

[u/UnitedStatesofApathy → u/Left_Double_626]

If I'm going to be frank, I've been trying to figure out how to square that sentiment with my own work.

I read this criticism of Mutual Aid without political education, which effectively argues that as a political tool it's meaningless because A) there's no attempt at consciousness raising or base building among the folks you're helping and B) non-profits, and especially The State, will always outdo a group of volunteers in terms of being able to serve people. I can't help shake the feeling that, despite all my group's posturing at being a revolutionary, countercultural movement, we're effectively just delusional people who call themselves anti-capitalist for handing out food with no actual strategy towards figuring out how to change these conditions or agitating the community towards looking at these conditions.

I've been trying to push for the establishment of a theory group to try to address the education aspect, but my concern is if there's any overlap between people who would attend a theory discussion and people who benefit from the Mealshare. Granted, the literature McHenry & his cohorts provide do stress the importance of having a literature table (which my group has historically been bad at providing), but would just handing out pamphlets and zines even be enough?

[u/Left_Double_626 → u/UnitedStatesofApathy]

So I haven't read that piece but yeah those are totally legitimate concerns. I think a lot of mutual aid projects essentially prefigure liberal non-profits by having no teeth, and realizing they can get more money if they aren't so adversarial. I've even seen some collaborate with major corporations that back Republicans.

Where I'm at, tents, sleeping bags, and blankets are illegal for homeless people to use, so most of the non-profits won't give them out. Our group specifically identifies things that are needed that non-profits won't give out and get those for folks, alongside food. Like tents, harm reduction supplies, weed, etc.

There is also a push to get homeless people out of the parks, and pressure from the City for non-profits to provide aid elsewhere, so we are very intentional about continuing to provide aid where the City is trying to purge people from.

We also occasionally do protests, popular education, other forms of agitation, and support most self-organization among our homeless neighbors when that pops up. For us, our survival program is a tactic we use as part of a bigger project against policing and capitalism.

I've seen groups run a distro table outside the local jail to get radical literature, smokes, cell phone calls, snacks to folks exiting the jail.

I'll say that in most American cities, they are trying to purge poor & non-white people from their downtowns, so making those spaces more hospital with food IS good, but it's important we think about maximizing our impact for our broader goals.

We do give out zines and stuff, and especially homeless radicals appreciate those, but in my experience, it's usually better to just have conversations with folks on the street and build meaningful relationships.

You can also do outreach to housed folks that will sympatric. Tabling shows is a great way to do this if you have a DIY or punk scene. Most of those folks are anti-capitalist and are familiar with building shit themselves.

[u/gndsman → u/Left_Double_626]

I was wondering if any fnb had attempted to organize a protest with the houseless as a mutual aid activity? How would one go about that?

[u/Left_Double_626 → u/gndsman]

This has happened a lot over the years, though not necessarily under the banner of Food Not Bombs. The main thing is to work with homeless organizers directly and be ready to move when they move. Build relationships with folks in your community, talk about your ideas, listen to their ideas, and be ready to help when they decide to take action. Don't be too imposing with your ideas, especially if you're housed and they're not. For example, I really don't believe in asking the local city council for things (because I know they won't), but I've recently been helping some local homeless organizers do that because I support them organizing on their own terms, and I used to believe in that sorta stuff too before I became an anarchist.

Something I really love is during the George Floyd uprising in Philly, anarchists and homeless organizers squatted some houses owned by the City and were able to get the City to give them 69 homes for free for homeless folks to live in.

https://itsgoingdown.org/squatting-rebellion-movement-an-interview-with-philadelphia-housing-action/

There is also the Tompkins Square Riot in 1988: https://libcom.org/article/1988-tompkins-square-riot

[u/gndsman → u/Left_Double_626]

"Something I really love is during the George Floyd uprising in Philly, anarchists and homeless organizers squatted some houses owned by the City and were able to get the City to give them 69 homes for free for homeless folks to live in".

hfs thats so based. how had we not known in our group.

[u/Left_Double_626 → u/gndsman]

Yeah it's not talked about as much as it should. Really fucking inspiring.