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Guide to organizing an Eat-In

Whether you’re gathering a small group for a sidewalk potluck or mobilizing hundreds for a public protest meal, these principles can guide you in organizing your Eat-In:

1. Consider your community. You're feeling inspired. You want to get involved. Before you do anything, ask yourself a question: "What will help my community the most?" Interpret community as you will: your friends, your family, your neighborhood, your school, your church, your workplace, your city or your country. Then, think about how an Eat-In can address your answer to that question. An Eat-In can help in many ways: it can gather people, it can introduce them to an issue or to each other, it can build your community or your mailing list or your "membership base," it can collect signatures, it can attract the press and generate publicity, it can give people an opportunity to enjoy real food, it can make a statement, it can knit two or more organizations closer together, it can pressure politicians and it can be just for fun. Your Eat-In can be very simple and it doesn't need to have an overt political purpose, but it will always benefit from some forethought and it may then have the potential to really contribute to your community.

2. Choose a great location. An Eat-In is a public event, open to everyone. To engage the most people, an Eat-In should be very accessible and very visible. Someone who hears about it from a neighbor or someone who passes by that day should both feel welcome to sit down. Sidewalks, traffic medians, public parks and plazas are great locations. Securing permits or tables for outdoor Eat-Ins can be difficult, though; in that case, consider reaching out to art galleries, museums, restaurants, school buildings and community centers. If you're looking to be radical, consider an Eat-In in a parking space in front of a city building or the office of a corporation, gather in the drive-thru lane of a fast food chain or take action in front of a national monument. Be creative. The location of your Eat-In should fit its purpose and be able to accommodate the number of people you want to come.

3. Tell people. Start by telling Eat-Ins.org when, where and why you’re Eating-In. We'll help get the word out, and announcing it on the website will build momentum and inspire others to follow your lead. Then, think of the people you hope will come to your Eat-In and think of all the places they might hear about it. Reach out to organizations in your area that work in food justice, sustainable agriculture, public health or education. Reach out to arts and community organizations, too: an Eat-In shouldn't just be for card-carrying food activists. Post your Eat-In on Facebook. Tell your friends to invite their friends. If it's appropriate, consider inviting farmers and farmworkers, restaurant and grocery store employees, city or school officials and members of the press. Invite everyone. Use your Eat-In to make friends, share ideas and start a conversation.

4. Make it collaborative. An Eat-In is a potluck. Everyone should bring or help to cook food, or at least participate in some way beyond showing up and eating. There may be Eat-Ins that aren't entirely a potluck - an Eat-In where you really feel it's important to hand out free food, for example - but no one should have to pay money to participate. Planning an Eat-In should also be collaborative. Reach out to friends or potential partners, discuss your ideas and share the tasks in putting it together. If you need tables or chairs, consider asking a nearby restaurant, office, hotel or community center. Consider assembling tables from sawhoreses and plywood, or skip the tables and just sit down on blankets. Ask everyone who's coming to your Eat-In to bring their own plates, silverware, cups and even chairs. Decentralize promotion by telling everyone you invite to tell five other people about it. Don't stress yourself out planning everything by yourself. Embrace spontaneity.

5. Stay on message. When talking about your Eat-In before or during your event, be clear about the reason you're Eating-In. Make sure everyone, including the press, knows why, even if the reason is to have fun or just to meet new people. If it has a political purpose, explain it: you're rallying students and faculty to demand more sustainable food in school cafeterias; you're talking about what we need to do to satisfy everyone's right to fresh, healthy food; you're pressuring politicians to sign good food policy into law; you're sitting down with local farmers in order to connect with the people who grow your food. Before your Eat-In, consider reviewing the Talking Points we've written up. You could even distribute the original Eat-In Manifesto, or write your own, if that's the message you want to get across.

6. Keep it fun. While you should always stay on message, you should also be careful not to get too preachy. Meals are convivial. Don’t over-politicize your Eat-In or dwell on the problems with our food system. Eat-Ins are a form of celebratory activism: rather than demand that individuals make sacrifices for the greater good, we can gather to build our community and we enact the change we seek in the world. Enjoying good food is a right; let's satisfy it.

7. Document it. If your Eat-In is trying to raise awareness about an issue, if you plan to organize another and if want to link your Eat-In to others taking place around the country, make sure to document it. Make sure someone who’s coming brings a camera and takes pictures. Report back to Eat-Ins.org with photos, videos and a synopsis of your Eat-In. Post the photos on Flickr and Facebook and write about the Eat-In on blogs, message boards and in letters to friends. Before your Eat-In, notify local newspapers, radio, blogs and journalists of what you're doing. Their photos and their ability to spread the word may be far better than yours. For tips on writing press releases and spreading the word about grassroots events like Eat-Ins, check out the "organizer toolkit" that the people who organized last fall's Green Jobs Now! Day of Action have written, or consider buying Step It Up's book Fight Global Warming Now.

8. Make sure everyone leaves the Eat-In with an assignment. Food activism doesn't end with an Eat-In; it continues in your everyday life. Food activists are people who cook, garden, share meals, meet their farmers and food producers, cooperate and invite new and old friends to come sit down at their table. Make sure everyone leaves your Eat-In with a next step, an assignment or a pledge.

9. Follow up. Keep everyone in touch. The group of people you've gathered at your Eat-In likely represents a tableful of enthusiasm, talent and good ideas; do not miss the opportunity to keep them talking and working together to address the challenges we face right this moment. Collect the email addresses of everyone who comes, and then write a follow-up email. Create a Facebook or Google group, a Wiki page or a new social network. If every Eat-In forms a community of people who care about bringing real food to more people, and if Eat-Ins take place all over the country, then you and us and millions of others will have built a social movement. People notice social movements. Politicians notice social movements. And that’s when things begin to change.

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1. Guide to Organizing an Eat-In
2. Ideas for Eat-Ins
3. Talking Points
4. The Pledge
5. The Eat-In Manifesto