Tim's virtual check in - March 29
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Hello everyone in EBFNB. I will be returning to the Bay Area in the next few weeks, to try once again to make a home for myself there.
I plan on trying to do a lot of work with East Bay Food Not Bombs when I am there. I am sending this check-in to give you guys a very 
brief overview of what I've been working on, where my focus has been lately, and what I most want to contribute to Food Not Bombs this 
spring and summer. 

* UPDATE ON THE FNB 'INTERNATIONAL GATHERING'

For those of you that don't know, there has been a conversation going on for the last few months about the possibility of holding a 
"Food Not Bombs International Gathering" this August in New York City, to coincide with the Republican National Convention. This idea 
was origionally proposed by members of Richmond FNB, in the form of a survey that they emailed to the different FNB chapters. And from 
that simple beginning, a network has been slowly emerging. The organizing process so far has been frustrating and confusing, for many 
predictable reasons. But despite people's frustrations and disapointments, people seem determined to keep the conversation going. 

I am interested in drawing people from East Bay Food Not Bombs into this conversation. I want to propose the possibility of planning a 
Bay Area Regional FNB gathering to coincide with whatever type of gathering they eventually decide on having. New York Food Not Bombs, 
by all indications, does not support this official gathering, and have issued an official statement about their views: 
(http://ack.interactivist.net/statement) But some people are trying to push forward with the original plan anyways, despite New York 
FNB's wishes. Both sides have become rather entrenched, and we are now at a stalemate, with no clear vision of how to move the 
conversation forward. I have various ideas about how to try to break the stalemate. First, I'd like to open up the conversation, and 
start getting more West Coast F.N.B. chapters involved in it. (Right now the conversation seems to be dominated by East Coast FNB 
chapters.) I also am trying to introduce the idea of having multiple coordinated regional gatherings in many cities at the same time, 
instead of just focusing on one centralized gathering. I would like to persuade East Bay Food Not Bombs to consider planning a regional 
gathering, perhaps this August.

Honestly, I am not terribly inspired by this 'international gathering' so far, but I AM inspired by the communication network that has 
been emerging in the process of organizing this gathering. This is where I am putting all of my attention: on building a national Food 
Not Bombs communications infrastructure; on reviving 'A Food Not Bombs Menu' and the "FNB Radio Network"; on building bridges between 
FNB and IMC in every city, on building a FNB Media Alliance, made up of media activists from FNB chapters across the country.
I want to promote the idea of forming an affinity group of people who want to collaborate on making our own Food Not Bombs Newspaper.
(The Catholic Worker union has a newspaper. The Black Panthers had their own newspaper. So did the Diggers. Why shouldn't Food Not 
Bombs?)

For the last few months I have been working hard on building my own FNB website, as a way of promoting this vision of a FNB Media 
Affinity Group. To view the work I've done so far, you can go to this address: (www.linefeed.org/~tim/fnb) 
Please keep in mind that this site is still very much under construction. At the top of the screen is a frame with links to what I 
think are the major FNB media sources that exist right now. You can click on "Mailing List" to get an archive of messages about the 
proposed August gathering.

* PROJECTS I WOULD LIKE TO COLLABORATE ON THIS SPRING

Here are two simple project ideas which I'd like to mention to you. Feel free to ignore them completly, or embrace them and make them 
your own. I am not strongly tied to either idea, and I don't claim any ownership of them. If you don't like these ideas, I will just go 
back to the drawing board and try to come up with some others.

1) FIELD TRIP TO FULL BELLY FARMS

I have been thinking a great deal about the Tuesday Farmers Market, and how to create a stronger Food Not Bombs presence at the market, 
and how to build more direct and more symbiotic relationships with the farmers. I spent every Tuesday in October and November at the 
market, playing music with my friends, helping Craig with the food pickup, and researching, and coming up with ideas. I will write some 
other time about my experiences there. For now, I just want to mentiion one idea.

Wouldn't it be fun if Food Not Bombs organized a field trip to one of the farms that donates food to us? Imagine going to see the food 
at it's source. It could start possibly with a field trip to Full Belly Farms, as a trial, and if that works out, then perhaps in the 
future we could plan monthly field trips to different farms. These field trips could be thought of as freeskool learning opportunities, 
and they could be co-sponsored by the Barrington Collective or the new Radical Families Network that I've been hearing about.
Imagine in the long term if these field trips became regular events, and then they'd evolve into work parties, and from there, it could 
evolve into a sort of Food Not Bombs internship program, where FNB volunteers can do week long internships on a farm, and learn farming 
skills while helping the farm. Imagine then if we started getting our food directly from the farmers before it was even brought to 
market. Perhaps these visions are all far fetched. But in any case, a field trip would be fun and useful, and they are easy to 
organize. 

2) FREE SPEECH MOVEMENT CAFE NIGHT

This is another even simpler event that I would like to promote. Do you guys realize that this is the 40th anniversary of the Free 
Speech Movement in Berkeley? Every ten years, FSM veterens gather together in Berkeley to commemorate the FSM. I don't know if anything 
is being planned for this year or not, but if it is, I would like Food Not Bombs to be involved. I also would wish that copwatch, the 
Barrington Collective, and the two bay area IMC collectives would be involved as well, because I would say that these groups are the 
inheritors today of the legacy of the Free Speech Movement.

So here is my simple proposal. I would like it if Food Not Bombs hosted a cafe night at the Long Haul as a commemeration of the 
anniversary of the Free Speech Movement. Local folk historians Claire Burch and Michael Rossman could be invited to speak about the 
legacy of the FSM. (Michael Rossman was involved in the FSM, and now maintains a website of historical documents related to the FSM.)
We could watch the documentary "Berkeley In the Sixties", which largely focuses on the Free Speech Movement. We could invite copwatch 
or the barrington collective or IMC to co-host the event.

Well, that's all for now. Anyone who is interested in discussing or expanding on either of these ideas, please send me your thoughts. 
I guess I'll see you guys in a few weeks. 

-Tim Roust
tim@thirteen.net