Taos Food Not Bombs has been feeding the community for several years. Our group provided food each week in The Taos Plaza and at the large protests outside the Taos home of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. After a break of more than a year Taos Food Not Bombs re-started with its celebration of Human Rights Day December 10, 2006 at the Bareiss Gallery. Food Not Bombs co-founder Keith McHenry talked about how Food Not Bombs started in Boston and how volunteers were arrested during the dedication of monument to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at U.N Plaza in San Francisco in 1995. That year Amnesty International declared Food Not Bombs volunteers "Prisoner of Conscience" when they were getting arrested, beaten and tortured for defending the rights of the homeless. The evening started with two songs by Apollo who also told of how he volunteered with San Antonio, Texas Food Not Bombs. Local Taos artist and hand made tile maker Jill Rounds intoduced the two guests. Over 120 people attended the event. Volunteers with Action Coalition of Taos, Tierra Lucero andseveral other groups attended. The event was recorded by Kate with KRZA Radio, Robin of Cultural Energy and Richy filmed it for Taos Local Television Public Access Channel 2. That evening Taos activists proposed the idea of starting local chapters of Healthcare Not Warfare, Toas Food Not Lawns and a number of other projects. Peace activists from Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Las Vegas, New Mexico also attended the event. Plans are already being made to organize a New Mexico Food Not Bombs Gathering and start more groups to address the states problems. New Mexico has a number of challenges including hunger and a reliance on the Military for jobs.
Food Not Bombs is a global all volunteer movement collects food and shares it with the hungry and provides vegetarian meals at protests. The Food Not Bombs movement provided the only daily meals to the survivors of Katrina and fed the rescue workers after the World Trade Towers were hit on 9/11, yet the FBI has placed Food Not Bombs on the "Terrorist Watch List".
