The Food Not Bombs movement prepares for a global economic,
environmental and political crisis.
THE CRISIS
It is becoming clear that we need to prepare for a global crisis. The
combinations of the U.S. mortgage crisis, high food and oil costs, natural
disasters and the threats of war against Iran are some of the indications
that our world is out of balance. This crisis could unfold as soon as this
summer. We could face food shortages, martial law and many other problems.
So far our predictions have been correct from our belief that Reagan is
policies would cause homelesness to chaos and death caused by the U.S.
occupation of Iraq. All events today are pointing to a global catastropy.
We may have little time left in which to prepare. When Hurricane Karina
washed across the southern part of the United States Americans had to turn
to Food Not Bombs for help. The American Red Cross and FEMA where unable or
unwilling to help after Katrina and they don't have a plan for the growing
economic. political and environmental crisis nor if there is a war with
Iran. While the impact may be less outside the United States Food Not Bombs
groups all over the world will need to make plans to respond. This page is
designed to inspire you to start planning for the crisis. It does not
include all the answers.
WHAT CAN YOU
DO?
We can survive and even flourish during this
historic crisis if we remain dedicated to the ideals and principles of Food
Not Bombs. Invite the public to join your local group. Cooperation and
participation with others could be the most important thing we can do. Our
principle of building independent chapters that have no leaders and use
consensus to make decisions is key to our ability to provide for our
communities. The U.S. government plan such as it is is based on the
principle that Americans will be looting and killing each other so they
have placed their highest priority of the use of military force to maintain
security. Food, water, housing, clothing, and healthcare are not included
in their disaster planning. Building groups of trusted people dedicated to
solving the problems caused by the crisis could be our first priority. We
often called these affinity groups. Join or start a local Food Not Bombs
group. Meet and talk about all the ways you can work together to provide
for your community. The consensus network will publish a self help guide to
using the process of Formal Consensus on its website www.consensus.net.
When used well consensus can help your group find creative solutions to
every problem. Our response to Katrina is one example of how effective our
process can be in responding to a crisis.
START AN
AFFINITY GROUP AND STUDY CONSENSUS
With the failure
of society one of the best things we can do is build strong affinity groups
and learn as much as we can about how how to use the process of consensus
to make decisions. An affinity group could be your local Food Not Bombs
chapter, a group fixing up houses like Homes Not Jails or any group of like
minded friends dedicated to working together. Food Not Bombs groups often
us consensus and this can provide a way for everyone to have input in the
direction of the affinity group. If the issue of food, water and energy
becomes restricted those of us that work together in groups will do much
better than people who find themselves seeking their next meal on their
own. To learn more about consensus visit here.www.consensus.net
FOOD
America has 53 days of food in storage and most grocery stores have three
days of food on their shelves. This is also true in many other countries.
The first thing people will need is food. We are already finding more
groceries are locking their dumpsters and national chains claim to have
policies against donating their surplus. We need to organize a way to
obtain more discarded food. Talk with the produce workers and see if the
store policy can be ignored. Consider introducing a local law making it
illegal to keep food from groups like Food Not Bombs. Write to the national
offices explaining the need for cooperation. (We will have the addresses
and a sample letter soon.) While its getting late in the season for many it
is becoming more important than ever for us to start as many community
gardens as possible. The Food Not Lawns movement is growing and even now
we can start to build green houses and find land to farm. Here again the
Food Not Bombs model can be effective. Many Food Not Bombs groups are
working to add a second or third day to their schedule of meals. When the
crisis gets more noticeable we may want to share meals every day. This can
be possible if we organize collectives that are responsible for one day a
week. We can organize a cook house for each day of the week or have a crew
that meets at a central kitchen on their scheduled day. Daily meals can
help us build a stronger relationship with the community and provide a way
for us to have communication about current needs and problems. We have seen
the daily meal unite a community and speed communication. Of course
everyone can use a meal seven day a week as well. As we point out in the
Food Not Bombs book the role of our meal also being our office can be
essential to building neighborhood cooperation. Come to the meal and find
out how you can help and details about the other projects being developed
in your community. Food storage is another way we can help our community.
Each fall we may have a great harvest but by December we could be out of
vegetables and fruit. Dry or can produce for the winter. As it is not
always possible to grow and collect enough food it could be necessary to
buy staples. Organize events like concerts, bake sales and raffles to raise
money to buy fifty pound bags of rice, beans and oats. Ask people to bring
five cans of food to help provide back up. Buy metal trash cans to store
your grains so mice, rats, and other pests don't get our food before we do.
Food prices for basics like rice jumped 70 percent in April. Food Not Bombs
could ease future price increases by obtaining as much dry goods as
possible now.
WATER
Water can be a
big problem is the price of oil makes electricity unreliable. This could
be our greatest problem. Store water now while we have it. Learn about how
your community is currently getting its water and investigate a way to keep
that water coming. While solar and wind generated electricity is expensive
it might be possible to organize a community movement to make sure local
water pumping, wells and your local water infrastructure is not dependent
on the electric grid. Seek out ways to collect water for your gardens such
as collecting grey water from sinks and showers. Investigate ways to purify
your local water sources. Find out how polluted your local streams, rivers
and lakes might be. Develop a plan to clean, transport and collect any
source of water safe enough to use.
HOUSING
Millions of families are unable to
pay their mortgage or rents. One study claims that as many as 40 million
Americans will face foreclosure as the economy fails. It is already
difficult for people to sell their homes and millions of houses could sit
empty while families live outside in door ways. We started the Homes Not
Jails movement during the Savings and Loan crisis. The chaos meant that
banks sued each other over defaulted mortgages and for years the ownership
of empty homes remained in dispute. Law enforcement is already unable to
handle all the evictions so there could be a solution. Organize a local
Homes Not Jails chapter. Create a list of all the empty homes in your
community. Go to city hall and find out the status of each empty building.
You will find may are in dispute and have no clear owner. Put your own lock
on every disputed home or building. At your meals ask people if they need a
home. Invite those who do need a home to meet you at one of your relcaimed
homes at 9:00 AM the next day. When they arrive let them in and help them
fix up their new home. The neibors will be happy the empty house is finally
occupied. Another stratagy is to let families facing foreclosure know you
can help them. Their home will sit empty for years after their evictions
so why not offer to move them back in a day or two after they are forced to
leave. This was an effective stratagy during the Great Depression of the
1930s. The local sheriff departments are so busy with evictions they can't
keep returning to see if all the families they forced out have not
returned. In most cases the family has already payed tens of thousands of
dollars towards owning their home yet after three late payments that lost
all they put into it. Develop a relationship with the sheriff department
and let them know while they must enforce the law it would be in the best
interest of the community if they would work with you to help keep local
families in their homes. Remember the banks and mortgage companies created
this crisis so they could become rich. Housing is a basic human right and
there is no reason you should live on the streets while millions of homes
sit empty. This crisis is so large that these and other simple strategies
of housing will be necessary and possible. Contact your local Food Not
Bombs group and see if they have already started a Homes Not Jails group in
your community. If not help them get a Homes Not Jails group started.
MARTIAL LAW
George Bush signed
several executive orders for martial law in the event of a economic,
environmental or political state of emergency. Martial law in the United
States could be a major problem during the crisis. We must prepare now in
the event martial law is declared. As many as a million people or more
could be rounded up according to congressional reports. Homeland Security
has a list of over a million people they plan to detain with out charges.
Transportation, food, communications and energy will be restricted. Food
deliveries to our communities could be restricted. The courts, congress and
civilian rule would be suspended and the military would run the United
States.
Our structure of decentralized non-hierarchal groups using
consensus to make decisions is a reliable method for surviving martial
law. Our structure can be used in side concentration camps where we can
help organize fellow inmates in efforts of survival and becuase we have no
leader or central office those of us who remain free can also continue to
provide food, water, housing and other resources. Each group should make a
plan. Figure out where you should meet. Someplace that wouldn't be obvious
to Homeland Security. Plan out the steps you will take. Can you set up a
kitchen that the government is unlikely to discover in the first few day?
Plan to move your food, water and other items to locations hard to find.
Set up a system of communication that does not require phones or the
internet. You may need to cook using wood or other materials so the issue
of smoke bring attention could be a problem. Because there will be no laws
there is no need to set up a legal team like we do before most protests.
The main issues will be how to make sure everyone has food, water,
healthcare and housing. First aid and healthcare are also important. Riots
and military attacks could cause many to be injured. If you can take a
first aid class or organize local medical professionals to help please do.
Illness like cholera and dysentery could also be a major problem. Proper
sanitation is necessary. Organize a collective responsible for clean water.
We can really help our communities during martial law by being
prepared and organized. Start meeting now and investigate all the possible
problems and seek realistic solutions. While this crisis could be painful
for may if we are prepared this could be one way to introduce the public to
a better more sustainable way of living.
These are just a few of
the ideas we have for surviving the economic, environmental and political
crisis. Please email us your ideas and join or start a Food Not Bombs group
in your community. We hope you will join us in taking direct action towards
creating a world free from domination, coercion and violence. Food is a
right, not a privilege.
Please visit these pages to find out how
you can help us work for peace and justice.
Food Not
Bombs
P.O. Box 424, Arroyo Seco, NM 87514 USA
575-776-3880
1-800-884-1136
menu@foodnotbombs.net
www.foodnotbombs.net
| Start a Food Not Bombs | Main Menu | Food Not
Bombs Contacts | Donate A
Dollar For Peace |
|
