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Anarchy Against Capitalism

Effect on the Economy

Food not Bombs has established itself as one of the most rapidly developing social movements against containment politics. The growth in social development from Food Not Bombs was apparent through the 1980’s. As more and more cuts were being drawn from social welfare programs and attacks on the labor force deepened, Food Not Bombs developed a revolutionary intent. In the words of two Food Not Bombs organizers, they explained, “unable to address the real causes of social and economic inequality, business leaders and politicians increasingly fell that if the homeless can be permanently contained within the homeless shelters and rehabilitation programs, then the economic problems of retail businesses and the tourist industry will be miraculously solved." Serving their food was a public struggle against such ruling classes. By recycling food, Food Not Bombs brought food back to their original use-value, which in turn, ruined their exchange-value. Through their stance of minimizing environmental impacts, they hold a very direct threat to capitalism.

Lack of Nutrition in Neo-Liberalism

The lack of decent food quality in the neo-liberalism era has led to large populations of malnutrition and undernutrition. Despite available government assistance, the government has been unable to provide for the large percentage of Americans who cannot effectively feed their families. This lack of support is connected a larger neoliberal and racialized system that prohibits the accurate distribution of food production by limiting access to public transportation and grocery stores, creating a heavy reliance on market mechanisms to feed people. As problems with undernutrition grow, so do the levels of malnutrition. More unhealthy foods at a more affordable price has created a large diet deficiency. The trends of these increasing health concerns are tied to the capitalist political economy of food production, by producing cheap food despite the environment and health ramifications. The importance of food sovereignty has been established to challenge the neoliberal centered lifestyle. This idea would give the people the right to have healthy and well grown food through sustainable methods. Due to the focus on individual and community autonomy, the idea of food sovereignty is thought to risk US marginalization. Through class solidarity, an organizational outcry was formed, leading to the challenging of national and global institutions. Operating at a plurality of political and social scales, grassroots were established and a local resistance was built.

The large public concern of mass consumerism and awareness of food models and practices put a pressure on civil society groups. By forming links between food practices and social movements, a framework was built. With this new, active role of civil society, as is seen with Food Not Bombs, comes new policy initiatives. Many civil societies had felt that the developing institutional frameworks failed in their ability to provide and support the community. Some authors considered that growing interest from certain local institutions was needed as a supportive expression of a neo-liberal model of potential urban development. However, the building dissatisfaction with the ability and work of legal institutions and of consumerism provoked large opposition.

In Anarchy

The average anarchist is the largest criticizer of modern day consumerism, as they believe there are alternative options in the development in consumption, production, and culture. Instead, anarchists attempt to build a lifestyle that focuses on less purchasing and more re-using. Food Not Bombs holds the same ideological values as anarchists. Since Food Not Bombs has several chapters, it is difficult to place the groups specific action. However, it is certain that the Food Not Bombs group does agree with the anarchist social theory and is part of a larger Anarchist political action group. Anarchist freegans use dumpster diving to move away from capitalist ideas. Many of these divers believe that the mass consumerism produces too much waste, leading to a large misuse of natural resources and social understanding. According to freegans, this lack of preservation allows the continuation of mass redistribution of income between the poor and working class to give their wages to much more powerful corporations. Focusing on the large consequences of consumerism, they build the idea of “freeganism” by participating in a “no-sumption”. Just as the freegans had done, the Food Not Bombs members use their platform to go against the “throwaway” accessibility of the modern era of mass disposable consumerism. Participating in the practice known as dumpster diving, the group hopes to give waste utility and to help provide the poor with rich excesses. By bringing a voluntary association together to provide an alternative to the modern waste system, Food Not Bombs has moved against neoliberal urban development models. On a social level, the group is able to challenge the land by politicizing public spaces around the issue of inequality and hunger.