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- The Raised Carrot #002
The Raised Carrot #002
The Food Not Bombs Boston Newsletter
Food Not Bombs Boston
June 18, 2025
The Raised Carrot #002
The Food Not Bombs Boston Newsletter
Welcome back to The Raised Carrot! This month we’re thrilled to share news about exciting developments for Food Not Bombs in the Boston area and events you’ll be able to find us at in the coming month. We have an article about how you can resist ICE in Boston, and work towards abolishing it. One of our members also shared their recipe for delicious vegan snickerdoodles!
Our Cambridge crew is getting sick of the rain every Saturday this spring, but we’re still out there every week sharing free vegan meals with our community in Cambridge, Roxbury, Waltham, and soon to be even more locations! Malden Food Not Bombs is officially launching on June 21st and another chapter in Somerville is in the works.
We hope you enjoy this issue of our newsletter and if you want to hear more about what we’re up to in the future, don’t forget to subscribe! Every month we’ll bring you news about our organization, our thoughts about things going on in the world, recipes, and more.
A berry crumble made for one of our Roxbury serves this month
Table of Contents
Officially Announcing Malden Food Not Bombs!
Hello! We are Food Not Bombs Malden, a new chapter in the area! Many of our current members are branching out from chapters in the Boston area. We realized we were all riding the orange line across town when we could be doing some mutual aid goodness closer to home.
Our first meal share will be on June 21st at 1:30 PM. We plan to continue serving fresh food on the first and third Saturdays of every month going forward. You can find us near the circle of benches at the corner of Commercial and Pleasant streets, right outside of Malden Center Station. If you are interested in joining us for a free meal, we hope to see you there. If you have resources to share or want to help out, email us at [email protected].
Our organizing objectives are similar to other chapters: build community through food so we have the strength to resist another day. We’re especially excited to invite people to shape what good food for the community means and support other groups doing cool, bottom-up work in Malden. If you have ideas, come and find us at Malden Center!
Join Us For Our Free Meals All Around Boston
There are a few Food Not Bombs chapters in the Boston area, come join us at one of them for a free meal! The best way to get involved with us is by coming to one of our serves. You can help us distribute food and goods or just enjoy a good meal and get to know us. There is no need to sign up in advance, and everyone is welcome! If you aren’t able to attend our serves then you can also send an email to your local chapter and ask what you can do to help out.
Boston Food Not Bombs serves a meal in Cambridge every Saturday 1-3 PM at James Cronin Park.
Email: [email protected] Instagram: @bostonfoodnotbombs Donate: ko-fi.com/food-not-bombs-boston
Roxbury Food Not Bombs serves a meal by Nubian Station every Sunday 1-3 PM at Justice Edward O. Gourdin Veterans Memorial Park. As of August 3rd, Roxbury Food Not Bombs will be moving to Dudley Square Plaza on Blue Hill Avenue, still serving every Sunday 1-3PM.
Email: [email protected] Instagram: @roxburyfoodnotbombs Donate: ko-fi.com/roxburyfnb
Waltham Food Not Bombs serves a meal in Waltham every Sunday 2-4 PM at Waltham Common, and also distributes free groceries every Wednesday 6 PM in a lot by 240 Moody Street.
Email: [email protected] Instagram: @foodnotbombswaltham Donate: Paypal [email protected]
Malden Food Not Bombs serves a meal every other Saturday at 1:30 PM starting June 21st right outside of Malden Center Station.
Email: [email protected]
Somerville Food Not Bombs is coming soon!
Events
At our tabling events we share free patches, zines, and more!
Boston Dyke March - June 14th
Last weekend we celebrated pride month with a demonstration of queer joy and rage at Boston Dyke March! We gave out free patches, zines, stickers, and snacks at our table (check out the vegan snickerdoodles recipe further down!). We loved meeting folks fighting for liberation and making new friends and connections with other radical organizers. If you didn’t get to see us there but wanted to pick up one of our patches then don’t hesitate to reach out, or come meet us at one of our serves!
Malden Pride - June 22nd 12-4PM
This year for the first time we will be tabling at Malden Pride with members of newly formed Malden Food Not Bombs.
Malden Pride is not a masks required event but we will have extra to share!
MIT Pride Festival - July 11th
We’re continuing our season of Pride celebrations with tabling at the Kresge Oval lawn at MIT for the MIT Pride Festival! The festival is open to all members of the community, queer and allied and will include food, vendors, public art, political activism and education.
We will be there with free masks, literature, patches and more!
Abolishing ICE
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) is an evil institution that enforces the will of the United States government with brutal violence; its agents rip human beings from their homes and streets to be detained and deported. ICE abuses and sometimes kills people they take captive. There is no excuse for the violent methods of ICE; they accomplish nothing for our communities. Their stated goal is to “Protect America”, but they do not protect the people who live in America, only the corrupt oligarchs that profit off of separating rich countries from poor countries. Men with guns roam our streets kidnapping our neighbors, and they claim to represent us. There is no acceptable version of ICE, the only way forward is to totally abolish the institution. This goal is not inconceivable—ICE is not a time honored tradition, it was only established in 2003. Through active community defense and action, we can resist ICE in our city and fight towards abolition.
The Crimes of ICE
An institution that simply deported “illegal” immigrants would still be worth abolishing, because it makes no sense to classify any immigration as illegal when America’s borders are arbitrary constructs imposed on stolen lands, but the reality of ICE is even worse. From detaining and deporting people who are in the country “legally”, to systematic abuse of prisoners, and even causing the deaths of people in custody, ICE regularly commits atrocities. ICE acts opaquely, and it is difficult to know the full extent of what they have done, but these are some of the horrors that have become visible to the public.
You have probably heard of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts student who was taken by ICE in Somerville this March. Her visa was revoked after she co-authored an article in support of Palestine, however, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not notify her that her visa had been revoked until she had already been detained. She committed no crimes and was unjustly detained for weeks before finally being released in May. Mahmoud Khalil, a student activist at Columbia University and lawful permanent resident of the United States, was also kidnapped by ICE after supporting freedom for Palestine. As of writing this, he is still being detained and prevented from seeing his wife and newly-born son. ICE serves only the government of the United States, and will not hesitate to take action against enemies of the state regardless of ethics or even legality.
Kidnappings are not a new phenomenon for ICE–in 2008 a man named Davino Watson, an American citizen, was imprisoned for three and a half years before he finally managed to prove his citizenship in 2011. It is impossible to say for certain because of the lack of transparency, but a study from 2011 predicted that between 1% and 1.5% of people removed from the country by ICE are American citizens. In 2025 alone, over a dozen American citizens are known to have been deported in Donald Trump’s recent crackdowns. Even American citizens are not safe from ICE.
In addition to the violence of being forcibly moved to another country without warning or support, the people taken by ICE face mistreatment and abuse in the detention centers they pass through. In 2017, an independent news organization obtained records from the DHS of 1,224 reports of sexual abuse in ICE custody, only a fraction of the sexual abuses that had been reported, and found that in only 43 cases did the DHS Office of the Inspector General actually investigate the reports. Over half of the sexual abuses reported were sexual assaults, and in 59% of reports the perpetrator was an ICE officer or contractor. Another 12% of the reports alleged that an ICE officer or contractor witnessed the abuse and did nothing to stop it. Not only are prisoners in ICE facilities subject to rampant sexual abuse, but the very people running the prisons are the ones abusing them. The Office of the Inspector General that supposedly oversees these issues doesn’t even bother to investigate 96% of the time.
Resisting ICE in Boston
The abolition of ICE will not be instantaneous or easy; we must start by resisting them in our city. By fighting back, we keep our communities safe and pave the way to abolition. ICE’s presence in Boston has historically been limited compared to other cities, but reports of ICE in Boston have spiked in the last month, especially in Allston, so every member of our community should be ready to interact directly with agents of ICE.
Your first priority should be to keep yourself safe. ICE agents pose an active threat to all members of our community, especially people of color. If a fascist agent could “mistake” you for an illegal immigrant, then you should know the location of essential documentation and limit your interaction with ICE as much as possible. No matter who you are, you should live by the words, “Do not comply in advance.” If an ICE agent asks you a question, do not answer it. If ICE comes to your door, do not open the door for them unless they can present a warrant signed by a judge. If you are detained, then demand a lawyer. These are rights guaranteed by the Constitution–know them, keep a copy of them on you, and make sure your neighbors know them as well. ICE will take every inch we give them, and they thrive on people offering up more than they are legally required to.
To help keep the rest of your community safe, you can report ICE sightings. The LUCE Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts runs a hotline for reporting sightings. Save the number 617-370-5023 in your phone, and call it if you see or suspect ICE activity. Do not call the police to report ICE agents, as the local police are instructed to cooperate with federal agents and will only make the situation worse. If possible and safe, take photos or video recordings of the ICE agents you see, and their vehicles. You can also volunteer with LUCE to help run the hotline, receive trainings, and respond to reports of ICE.
Finally, to push back against ICE we need to actively protest when they invade our communities. The protests that exploded in Los Angeles in early June are an example of how people should reasonably respond to fascists kidnapping their neighbors. When ICE raids closed in on workers in locations across LA and nearby towns, crowds of people came to help. The crowds blocked ICE vehicles and protested, announcing that ICE was not welcome and demanding the release of the people who had been detained. These protests spread across the city to detention centers and other federal buildings. The police and later the National Guard were sent in to respond to the protestors.
The ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston Field Office is at 1000 District Avenue in Burlington, Massachusetts— and is ICE’s New England Regional Headquarters. As of early June, an unknown number of detainees are being kept in the office building under inhumane conditions. A group called Bearing Witness @ ICE organizes a weekly protest outside the office. Meanwhile, the Plymouth County Correctional Facility at 26 Long Pond Road in Plymouth is the only jail in the state that still detains victims of ICE. Plymouth County Sheriff Joe McDonald voluntarily contracts with ICE. Over a thousand ICE detainees have already passed through the facility. We do not endorse violence but we do endorse protest and making your voice heard. If you want ICE out of our city, our state, and our country then make your voice heard, whether that be by educating your neighbors, helping LUCE with ICE watch, or preparing for and organizing ICE protests in Boston.
Sources and Further Reading
Recipe Corner: Snickerdoodles Not Bombs
This recipe is a favorite of mine to bring to events because it makes a lot of delicious cookies and uses ingredients I almost always have on hand!
Ingredients:
1 cup almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
For the cinnamon sugar coating:
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond milk and apple cider vinegar and let sit for ~5 min. Add the canola oil, sugar, and vanilla extract and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in portions and mix until a uniform dough is formed. If the dough is runny or overly sticky, add more flour in 1/4 cup increments until the dough is firm enough to work with. Do not overmix!
Prepare the cinnamon sugar coating by mixing 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon. Using a cookie scoop or your hands, roll the dough into balls, about 1 1/2 tbsp each. Roll the ball in the cinnamon sugar to coat, then place onto baking sheets (leave a little space between them, they will spread while baking). Bake for 13-15 minutes. They will be soft but should be cooked through. Let the cookies cool on the pans for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Notes:
A different nondairy milk (such as soy or oat) can be used 1:1 for almond milk.
While I have not tried making this recipe gluten-free, you could try a gluten-free flour mix!
To make the dough easier to roll into balls, it can be covered and refrigerated for a couple hours.
A cart of clothes donations for distributing to our neighbors
Support Food Not Bombs Boston
All of the food, clothes, and supplies that we are able to share with our neighbors come from donations. If you have anything you can donate to help us out you can send us an email or DM our Instagram! We also use financial donations to fund purchasing high demand items like underwear, socks and soap. If you are able to give, we would greatly appreciate a monthly or one-time donation.
Also check out Roxbury Food Not Bombs
Roxbury Food Not Bombs is the younger sister organization of Boston Food Not Bombs, for folks south of the Charles River. Since October 2024, we’ve served vegan food for our neighbors, as well as distributing clothes, harm reduction materials, and literature. Like Boston FNB, we are not a charity where the rich give to the poor, we are a mutual aid organization standing in solidarity with, and providing for, all who have been harmed by capitalism and our government.
If you want to get involved, coming to our serve is the best way to get started – there is no need to sign up, you are welcome to just show up! Right now, Roxbury Food Not Bombs serves Sunday 1-3 PM in Justice Edward O. Gourdin Veterans Memorial Park. As of August 3rd, Roxbury Food Not Bombs will be moving to Dudley Square Plaza on Blue Hill Avenue, still serving every Sunday 1-3PM.
Follow what we’re doing on Instagram at @roxburyfoodnotbombs or email us at [email protected]. You can make a one-time or recurring donation on ko-fi. We also appreciate donations of vegan food, clothing, and hygiene supplies.
Links
