by Food Not Bombs Gainesville
Food Not Bombs Gainesville, an all-volunteer movement that receives donations and recovers food that would otherwise be discarded, re-organized in December and is now sharing fresh and prepared food with folx in and around downtown Gainesville on a weekly basis.
FNB is rooted in three principles:
- the food we share is always vegan or vegetarian and free to everyone, and especially unhoused, marginalized and vulnerable folx
- our local chapter is fully autonomous and makes decisions using the consensus process
- FNB is not a charity and is therefore dedicated to social change in alignment with radical mutual aid theory and practice
GNV FNB’s core values demand justice for all. We tolerate no discrimination towards any race, gender or sexual identity, actively work on our own internalized biases, and help educate one another through a call-in culture rather than call-out culture.
As FNB in Gainesville continues to mobilize, each weekly food share will be announced on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/foodnotbombs.gnv.fl) before distribution. A food share will be scheduled each week and we advise the community to visit our Facebook page for our weekly schedule. Volunteers are always welcome to cook a vegetarian/vegan dish that can be shared and/or dropped off on distribution day. Prospective volunteers can contact organizers via Facebook or by email (foodnotbombsgnv@gmail.com) and discuss immediate needs as well as discuss FNB’s commitment to following critical COVID-19 protocols.
Further, FNB is always collecting donations of herbs, spices, bulk rice, beans, dry goods (no animal products, please!), to-go-containers, face masks, gallon-size bags, socks, travel-size hygiene items (e.g. soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, lip balm), menstrual products, condoms, blankets, hand warmers, and cash donations for various supplies. Please message/email us to coordinate delivery.
Food Not Bombs was born nationwide in May 1980 specifically to protest the Seabrook Nuclear power station in New Hampshire. The first full meal was shared outside the Federal Reserve Bank on March 26, 1981 during a stockholders meeting of the Bank of Boston to protest the exploitation of capitalism and investment in the nuclear industry. In Gainesville, where FNB has been active since at least the 2000s, the chapter is dedicated in resisting racist and oppressive systems manufactured to systematically exploit black, brown, and other oppressed folx – a system that further denies the same folx access to food security. Our vision is to empower our community to take bold action, exercise control, implement mutual aid, and create dual power outside the non-profit and governmental systems that cannot be depended on as part of the solution.
Come join us as we share food and solidarity for and with all!