Food Not Bombs has participated in hundreds of events over the years, and each one was unique. We do not have space in this book to tell every story; therefore, we have identified one peak event from three "eras" in our history: the Food Not Bombs Free Concert for Disarmament on May 2, 1982 from the Cambridge Collective Era (1981 to 1982); the first American Peace Test APT Nevada Test Site Action on March 10 to 17, 1988, from the Affinity Group Era (1984-1988); and the Labor Day arrests of Food Not Bombs-San Francisco in Golden Gate Park on September 5, 1988, from the National Organizing Era (1988 to 1991). During the first few years, we were a collective with a totally shared economy, living and working cooperatively in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Later, we evolved into affinity groups of like-minded activists who lived close to each other and did the day-to-day Food Not Bombs work Still later, we became a loose network of autonomous organizations all across the country. The following is a recollection of events that took place during each of these eras. 

On the day we had planned to hold the Free Concert for Disarmament, we got up extra early. As we had every morning for the last year, two members of the collective would leave the house with our four dog friends who also lived with us and pile into our '67 Dodge van. The first stop was always the bakery in Harvard Square.