Anarchistcook’s Weblog

The Walmart and the Toys are Us murders on Black Friday highlight the real terror of a political and economic system rushing towards the cliff.  Green shopping and new leaders just wont cut it.  Unlike Walmart’s holiday TV ad showing happy clerks opening the store for America’s shoppers the reality is unthinking consumers stampeding over under paid Jdimytai Damour killed in a frenzy to buy what? Or two gunmen shooting each other in a California Toys Are Us all in the spirit of celebrating the birth of a homeless prince of peace. Did Toys of Us run out of radio controlled Reaper Drones or the latest plastic AK 47? The holiday spirit is alive in China as toy factories close and nearly unpaid workers are locked out. Unlike their American counterparts the Chinese unemployed are rising up as are millions of others who are enjoying the wonders of global free trade.  

While Americans are busy witnessing the televised terror in India a corporate global assault is steamrolling our Earth towards an environmental crash where billion dollar bailouts are adding fuel to the fire of failed states, mass starvation, and a road warrior future.

But the great global economic crash may be the crisis that finally awakens a people from a nightmare where stamping a Walmart clerk to death in a blind rush to buy the perfect plastic gift is considered  the perfect way to celebrate the birth of baby Jesus.  Thousands of people see the crisis for what it is and it is possible if we continue to cook for peace, plant food on our lawns and share our love with our community that we can transform our world.  Corporations are closing and states are failing but the spirit of community is growing. Seek out your local Food Not Bombs chapter and enjoy the “great turning.”

CRACKDOWN BEGINS: Food Not Bombs homes and offices raided. Volunteers arrested.
Help Food Not Bombs feed the survivors of Gustav.
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/gustav.html

Crackdown Begins:  Food Not Bombs House Among Saturday Raids Ahead of RNC. Food Not Bombs volunteer arrested in Denver and Berkeley office raided on Wednesday.

As the all volunteer movement Food Not Bombs prepares to respond to Hurricane Gustav the police and FBI raid several Food Not Bombs houses in Minneapolis and a office in Berkeley where police seized 13 computers.

Zachary Patrick Grey, a University of Massachusetts student from Marion, Mass., was arrested at 1:40 p.m. Monday after a foot chase, according to a Denver County Court complaint. According to CBS 3 of Springfield, Mass., Grey belongs to a group called Pioneer Valley Food Not Bombs. The alleged feces was glass jar of coffee with soy milk.

Several of those who were arrested are being represented by Bruce Nestor, the President of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers’ Guild. Nestor said that last night’s raid involved a meeting of a group calling itself the “RNC Welcoming Committee”, and that this morning’s raids appeared to target members of “Food Not Bombs,” which he described as an anti-war, anti-authoritarian protest group. There was not a single act of violence or illegality that has taken place, Nestor said. Instead, the raids were purely anticipatory in nature, and clearly designed to frighten people contemplating taking part in any unauthorized protests. Nestor indicated that only 2 or 3 of the 50 individuals who were handcuffed this morning at the 2 houses were actually arrested and charged with a crime, and the crime they were charged with is “conspiracy to commit riot.” Four of those under arrest include Monica Bicking, Eryn Trimmer, Garrett Fitzgerald,Nathanael Secor.  Emails asking the public to call St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman 651-266-8510 and Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak (612) 673-2100 have been sent out to call for their freedom.  Efforts to get have the 13 computers returned in Berkeley are also underway.  The authorities have claimed activists have been planning to use urine and feces at both conventions.

Food Not Bombs provides free vegetarian meals every week in hundreds of cities all over the world.  Food Not Bombs volunteers provided free meals to the rescue workers at the World Trade Center after 9/11, to the protesters at the Orange Revolution in Kiev, Ukraine and fed survivors in nearly 20 communities in the gulf region of the United States in the months after Katrina. From Iceland to Chile, Nigeria, New Zealand, Israel and beyond thousands of Food Not Bombs volunteers will be sharing vegetarian meals, working for peace, planting gardens, fixing up bikes for poor children and responding to hurricanes and earthquakes. Please forward this to your local media and community groups.

Thanks for your support

You can help Food Not Bombs feed the survivors of Gustav
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/gustav.html

Updated August 29, 2007

PLEASE HELP! As Hurricane Gustav across the gulf Food Not Bombs is planning to provide meals again foe survivors. Please organize with your local Food Not Bombs group. Help us collect food and supplies to held this year’s survivors. The U.S. Government and the American Red Cross were not able to deliver food to the survivors of Katrina so Food Not Bombs set up kitchens in over 20 cities. Volunteers organized America’s largest food relief effort.

We will be providing help for the survivors of Hurricane Gustav just as we helped after Katrina. The American Red Cross, state emergency agencies, and FEMA asked everyone to call our toll free number for food relief. This is an emergency! When the storm passes through the gulf wewill provide hot meals on a daily bases. We need volunteers, tools and food to help the people displaced by Hurricane Gustav. We need people to help us repair homes and cook meals for people surviving the hurricane. We also have a meeting place the Common Grounds 9th Ward Center off the Claiborne Ave exit on I-10 at the corner of N. Claiborne and Pauline in the 9th Ward.

Read more at plenty.org

Travel along with Free Speech TV as they cover our grassroots effort Food Not Bombs

The American Red Cross will be sending Gustav survivors to Food Not Bombs. After Katrina we had many calls from people who tell us that the Red Cross gave them our toll free number. We have been able to help most of the people directed our way. You can help Food Not Bombs support the Hurricane Gustav survivors by making a donation.

Food Not Bombs groups all across the southern United States are feeding families displaced by Gustav. Help us get food and supplies past FEMA. We need clothes, cooking equipment, food, cooks and money to provide for thousands of hungry homeless people. We have no overhead, rent or salaries so every donation goes directly to helping people. Many affected by Hurricane Gustav are familiar with Food Not Bombs because we have been sharing free food in communities through the area for many years. Because we are independent we can take food and supplies to areas where no other agency can reach.

This disaster may last another year or more so we intend to keep setting up Food Not Bombs field kitchens throughout the region. Food Not Bombs is encouraging the refugees to participate in cooking, serving and collecting the food. Their participation may be one of the most therapeutic things we can provide. Tens of thousands of survivors were kicked out of thier motel rooms. We believe that many of these people will be living outside homeless. Even if you can’t go to the disaster area we need lots of help in your community. The number of people we need to feed is growing all across America as people leave Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama looking for work and housing. We are trying to share food every day in your community. Please call to see how you can help in your area.

Many Survivors are now considered regular members of America’s homeless population. In 1989, Food Not Bombs fed the people made homeless by the earthquake and after a few weeks the working class victims were forgotten and faced the same problems as those who were homeless before the earthquake. Because this could be such a long crisis it may be better for us to teach people how to organize their own local Food Not Bombs group so they can provide long-term support.

There are some things you can do that can help us respond effectively to this disaster.

1. Organize a meeting this week – calling, emailing and posting flyers about the need for people to help and the day, time and location of the meeting.

2. At the meeting organize groups to call for food donations, another group to call for propane stoves, tanks of gas, tables and cooking equipment. Ask another group to get more volunteers.

3. Choose a time date and location of where your vehicles will gather to take the trip to the disaster area.

4. Collect 25 and 50 pound bags of rice, beans, 25 and 50-pound bags of rice, beans, black-eyed peas, lentils and any other large amounts of dry goods, pasta or non perishable food. We can also use propane stoves, kitchen equipment, toothpaste, soap, shampoo and other personal items.

5. Stay in touch by emailing menu@foodnotbombs.net or calling 1-800-884-1136.

Volunteer to feed the hungry and help the survivors of Hurricane Gustav
menu@foodnotbombs.net

http://www.foodnotbombs.net/gustav.html

Food Not Bombs
P.O. Box 424, Arroyo Seco, NM 87514 USA
575-776-3880
1-800-884-1136
menu@foodnotbombs.net
http://www.foodnotbombs.net

Please make a donation to help the survivors of Hurricane Gustav
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/dollar_for_peace.html

Welcome to my blog, I helped start the Food Not Bombs movement in Boston, Massachusetts in 1980 with seven friends. I trimmed produce and dumped three or four boxes a day so I looked for a way to save this beautiful food. At the same time my friends and I worked to stp the construction of Seabrook Nuclear Power Station in New Hampshire. These two items became a powerful stew now called Food Not Bombs.