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- The Raised Carrot #006
The Raised Carrot #006
The Food Not Bombs Boston Newsletter
Food Not Bombs Boston
October 26, 2025
The Raised Carrot #006
The Food Not Bombs Boston Newsletter
Welcome back to The Raised Carrot! We’re enjoying all the fall treats and the cool weather. This month we’re especially worried though about our neighbors who are going to lose SNAP benefits at the end of the month because of the government shutdown. It’s a more important time than ever to share food and build mutual aid networks. Make sure to both stock and rely on your local community fridge as we head into these uncertain times, and consider spending some time with us distributing the things that people need to survive. Luckily Food Not Bombs in the Boston area is doing more than ever, Somerville FNB has had their first few successful meals and folks on the South Shore are having another meeting soon to keep building their chapter, in addition to all the other chapters throughout the Boston area. We’ve also been at a lot of events lately so hopefully you have seen us and had some of our free treats! We’re really excited to be at the Anarchist Bookfair next weekend too, look for us there!
Table of Contents
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 - Roxbury Food Not Bombs serves a meal at Dudley Town Common on Blue Hill Avenue, every Sunday 1-3PM. We’re in the park at 2 Blue Hill Ave.
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.
Email: [email protected] Instagram: @foodnotbombswaltham Donate: Paypal [email protected]
Malden Food Not Bombs serves a meal every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month at 1:30 PM right outside of Malden Center Station.
Email: [email protected] Instagram: @malden_fnb
Donate: ko-fi.com/fnbmalden
Somerville Food Not Bombs is serving its first meal on Friday October 3rd in Davis Square at 6pm! Somerville Food Not Bombs will continue to serve meals every 1st and 3rd Friday.
Email: [email protected]
Quincy and Braintree Food Not Bombs is coming soon! If you want to get involved with the monthly planning meetings send an email or follow the Instagram for upcoming details.
Email: [email protected] Instagram: @foodnotbombs_quincybraintree
Events
Recently Attended
MAMAS Free Store Costume Swap - Oct 5th
We set up our table at the MAMAS Free Store Costume Swap in the library auditorium at 79 Highland Ave. We had a great time giving out mini zines and stickers, in addition to muffins, cookies, and fruit.
Check out our host, MAMAS (Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville), on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mutualaidmamas
Delicious maqloubeh we shared while tabling!
HONK! - Oct 11-12th
We had a lot of fun this year at local favorite HONK! Honk is an activist brass band festival and general celebration of weird art and community. We were in the parade on Sunday the 12th and set up to share free food and propaganda to the musical masses at the end in Harvard Square.
Find out more at https://honkfest.org/
Upcoming Events
Anarchist Bookfair - November 1-2nd
Our favorite weekend of the year! This time around located at the Lucy Parsons Center. Come see us tabling together with other Massachusetts Food Not Bombs chapters. We will be helping provide food and chaos with friends from the Waltham, Malden, Roxbury, Worchester, and Cape Cod chapters.
Get more info at https://bostonanarchistbookfair.org/
Meet the Anarchists
Here at Food Not Bombs, we're anarchists. Not every member might call themselves that but we organize ourselves with anarchist principles, and those principles guide our goals and actions. Our philosophy is sometimes more specifically called anarchist-communism or anarcho-communism, but I prefer to just say anarchist.
For many people Food Not Bombs is their first introduction to the concept of anarchism: often peoples first time hearing it seriously discussed, and almost always peoples first time seeing it put into practice. Understanding anarchism is not just a matter of what we believe, it is also a matter of understanding what we do, because the two are linked in a way that separates us from other leftist philosophies.
This is an extremely brief introduction to some of the essential concepts of anarchism and there is plenty of further reading I would recommend, but more importantly if this philosophy interests you then the best thing you can do about that is come to one of our meals and talk to us about it! Anarchism is a communal process and you can learn so much by being part of that process.
What We Believe
Our ultimate goal as anarchists is the creation of a money-less, class-less, and state-less society. In short we want to create a world without hierarchy. We believe that everyone should have free access to the things they need and that no one should have power over anyone else. We are opposed to capitalism and the state because they give people power over each other and deny us free access to the things we need.
Means and Ends
We believe that in order to achieve socialism our "means" must match our "ends". That is to say that we think that the methods we use must reflect our goal. We don't think that we will ever be able to vote for the world that we want because we want a world without states. Similarly we don't think our better world can be brought about by a small group of dedicated revolutionaries who tell everyone else how to behave, because we think that everyone should have equal say in the world we're building.
Prefiguration
The way we intend to bring about change is prefiguration, often described as "building a new world in the shell of the old". Prefiguration means that we imagine the world we want to live in and then start building it, without waiting for "the revolution" to clear the way. We build systems outside of capitalism and the state that do the things we think should be done. Food Not Bombs is an example of this: we think all food should be free so we do our part to make that possible through an organization without hierarchy or leaders. We hope that someday our non hierarchical systems can replace the systems that exist, but even if that day never comes we concretely improve the world with the work we do.
What We Do
Mutual Aid
The term mutual aid describes the process of freely sharing with each other the things and support we all need. It does not distinguish between "have"s who must help the "have not"s, everyone helps each other in the ways that they can. In the case of Food Not Bombs, mutual aid looks like sharing food, but it can manifest in so many ways, some of which are probably already familiar to you. Mutual aid can be clothing swaps, or skill shares, or Allston Christmas. It can also be supporting striking workers while they don't have wages, or offering a couch to a friend without a place to stay, or caring for someone who needs emotional support. In the spirit of prefiguration these things can be the building blocks of a world where everyone helps each other more freely, but they are also wonderful in their own way. Human connection is beautiful and we can help each other survive in a capitalist world that is often hostile.
Direct Action
Direct action is similar in spirit to "protest". While a traditional protest often involves a large number of people banding together to ask or demand something from a government or corporation, direct action is more focused on the ways protestors can wield power beyond just gathering and stating demands. Boycotts and worker strikes are two familiar examples of direct action, ways that people can actually exert influence on the systems they're making demands from. Direct action often involves less legally encouraged methods as well, like militant protest or sabotage. This is a public newsletter and we don't advocate for you or anyone to commit crimes, but as anarchists we wholeheartedly believe that what is right is more important than what is legal.
Further Reading
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.
Check out 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.
We serve fresh food on the first and third Saturdays of every month. 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!
Also check out Roxbury Food Not Bombs
We are out every week, rain or shine!
Roxbury Food Not Bombs is a 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! Roxbury Food Not Bombs serves Sunday 1-3 PM in Dudley Town Common, at 2 Blue Hill Avenue.
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
Socialism