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Dialogues@RU is published
annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume Two
Spring 2003
Food Not Bombs: Community Breakdown
and Reconstruction - Page 5
by Nicole Wines
Food Not Bombs Hoboken has already taken the first steps in planning, but taking action has always proven to be the difficult task. They have already begun to try to make their presence felt by moving out from the park where they were sharing food to a more highly trafficked area, and by posting flyers throughout Hoboken on a regular basis. Plans are being made for community events, such as a booth at the Hoboken Arts and Music Festival and a pancake breakfast for the community, in which they could explain what they do and ask for support and volunteers. The group has begun to grow artistically and creatively, once again hanging banners, discussing film and video projects, and playing music at their sharings. Also, city officials have already given permission for a community garden in an unused area of a park. It seems as if Food Not Bombs Hoboken is taking steps in the right direction, but the goal of community involvement and participation has to be kept as a top priority. This participation will help to increase civic engagement, and thus increase social capital within the city of Hoboken. If the members of Food Not Bombs Hoboken continue with their plans to interact with the community and to involve the community in their activities, they will not only strengthen the community and help to increase the amount of awareness, civic engagement, and social capital within it, but also strengthen themselves by planting roots in the community, allowing them to grow and flourish.
Putnam argues that "American social capital in the form of civic associations has significantly eroded over the last generation" (64). Food Not Bombs Hoboken is only one associational group that illustrates this erosion and the reciprocal relationship between social capital and community. Putnam affirms that this relationship exists. "A rounded assessment of changes in American social capital over the last quarter-century needs to count the costs as well as the benefits of community engagement" (65). Putnam also recognizes the importance of good neighborliness and social trust. As seen in the case of Food Not Bombs Hoboken, a lack of community can lead to a lack of civic engagement, and when there is a deficiency in civic engagement there is likely not much of a community. This reciprocity can be an advantage though, in trying to increase both community and social capital. As seen in the case of Food Not Bombs, a commitment to community development makes it possible for a localized increase in social capital, while at the same time, even a small rise in social capital (i. e., several new members in the organization) makes it possible to build and maintain community. "Members of associations are much more likely than nonmembers to participate in politics, to spend time with neighbors, to express social trust, and so on" (Putnam 64). Greater involvement in associations, or even the community as a whole, leads to a higher degree of civic engagement and social capital. Associational groups can utilize this dual relationship between community and social capital to their own advantage, while at the same time help to reduce or even reverse the decline in social capital which has occurred and work towards civic renewal.
Works Cited
Butler, C. T. Lawrence and Keith McHenry. Food Not Bombs: How to Feed the Hungry and Build Community . Tucson: See Sharp, 2000.
Food Not Bombs News 3 May 2002. 4 May 2002 <hhtp://fnbnews.org>.
Khan, Sharmeen. "Food Not Bombs." Canadian Dimension 32.1 (1998): 26.
Lowe, Seana S. "Creating Community." Journal of Contemporary Ethnography (2000): 357-87.
Novek, Eleanor M. "Communication and Community Empowerment." Peace Review 11.1 (1999): 61-9.
Putnam, Robert D. "Bowling Alone: America's Social Capital." Journal of Democracy 6.1 (1995): 65-78.
Sabot, Sadie. "De-fencing United Nations Plaza." Humanist 59.1 (1999): 23.
Schaffer, Carol R. and Kristen Anundsen. Creating Community Anywhere: Finding Support and Connection in a Fragmented World . NY: Putnam, 1993.
Yarrington, Roger. Community Relations Handbook . NY: Longman, 1983.
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