The Social Gastronomy Movement, links together a network of like-minded organisations around the world that use the power of food as a tool for social change. We are now ready here in the UK to form a UK Hub.
We already have over 20 charitable organisations signed up who are all working with food to create social change. If you are interested in joining to give our collective organisations a louder voice and promote all the great work we already do individually—from food banks, refugee projects, soup kitchens, and education for the minority communities—please do get in touch.
The idea of the Hub is that we would share best practice, visit each other’s projects and learn from each other. The other benefit (which is more important than ever at this time) is that when we are talking to the media, we will be able to mention that we are part of something much bigger. The aspiration is that Social Gastronomy becomes part of everyone’s vocabulary, and they are aware of how food is changing people and, in turn, making the world a better place.
The journey to date: In 2016, The Clink Charity was invited by Refettorio Gastromotiva to visit Rio de Janeiro during the Olympic Games and take part in the opening of their food waste restaurant and school. Chris Moore, chief executive, and Paul Clarkson, head chef trainer, from The Clink Charity represented the UK. Throughout the Olympics, chefs from all over the world were invited to be guest chefs in the Refettorio Gastromotiva training kitchen, working with the organization’s enrolled students to provide around 100 free dinners in dignity each day for Rio’s most vulnerable using entirely food surplus and donations.
The Refettorio Gastromotiva was founded by Brazilian chef David Hertz to offer free vocational kitchen training, entrepreneurial classes, nutrition and sustainable food education, and food waste programs. He wanted to create opportunities that empower and inspire those living on the margins of society whilst investing in young talent. Refettorio Gastromotiva has become a legacy for the city and brings nourishment, culture, and dignity for the most unfortunate of Rio de Janeiro’s marginalised populations five times per week.
Refettorio Gastromotiva now operates in 4 countries: Brazil, Mexico, El Salvador, and South Africa, with plans to grow and expand to new cities and countries.
The Olympics initiative was brought to Brazil by chefs Massimo Bottura and David Hertz and journalist Alexandra Forbes, to contribute to the difficult tasks of tackling food waste, eliminating malnutrition, and combating social exclusion.
Refettorio (in Latin Reficere) means recuperate and restore. At the Refettorio Gastromotiva recovering food is just as important as promoting and restoring people’s dignity. Whilst more than one-third of food produced in the world is wasted, millions of people stay hungry every day and live in constant food insecurity.
Gastromotiva has become an incubator of the Social Gastronomy Movement, providing necessary structure and resources to the movement to keep it on a focused path as it grows and evolves.
The global Social Gastronomy Movement is a human-centred community that addresses global and societal issues such as: inequality, hunger, the double burden of malnutrition, unsustainable food systems, and unemployment.
The aim: To use food as a tool for social change. This is what we call “Social Gastronomy.”
The mission: To engage people in the food systems to collaborate for social change.
The vision: To connect and strengthen social gastronomy communities all over the world working towards an equitable future, inclusive society, and a healthy planet.
Connection – Collaboration – Partnerships (CCP)
Since 2016, the movement has been growing globally, joining up all the amazing projects already working hard to effect change and improve lives.
The 12 organisations now meet twice a year to continue to build the movement around the world and also take part in learning journeys to improve our knowledge of all the great projects already operating around the world.
Timeline of The Clink Charity’s Social Gastronomy actions and events to date:
August 2016 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ● We cooked with the students at the Refettorio Gastromotiva using leftover fresh ingredients from local suppliers, feeding the homeless. ● We visited the Olympic games with the British Ambassador for a press conference with regards to the legacy project. ● We also visited the Santa Teresa Favela which is a unique, low income, and unregulated neighbourhood in Rio that has experienced historical governmental neglect. We saw first-hand the very basic, un-safe, and cramped conditions with little or no plumbing and very poor electrical solutions.
November 2018 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The founding members met at the Rio de Janeiro Hub (Refettorio Gastromotiva) for the first global Social Gastronomy Movement summit. The following organisations attended:
- We made sourdough bread together at the Refettorio Gastromotiva with the students and local bakers.
- We visited a local rubbish tip called Amparando Jardim Gramacho in a district of Rio and met some delightful young children (5 – 8 years old) living there. We went to their 1-room brick classroom and were greeted by them with big smiles all wearing their clean pressed uniforms. They were all very happy to see us and we went into their yard and planted herbs with them to teach them about food and caring for plants. We then left the children and went on a walk around the tip, which was very sad. People / families were living in wooden sheds or under plastic sheets. There was no running water or electricity. There were vultures circling above and wild pigs running around scavenging, and the residents of the tip— adults and children—were busy sorting the rubbish in order to live. There were also small fires on the ground erupting where the methane was escaping. Also, some of the huts has been razed to the ground through fire.
- We also spoke at a new economies event in Rio called ColaborAmerica to introduce the local hospitality delegates to SGM.
November 2018 – Sao Paulo, Brazil
- We visited a hospitality show called Mesa Tendencias to introduce the delegates to the Social Gastronomy Movement. We also supported the Refettorio Gastromotiva team, with the local students providing cooking demonstrations. We also had the opportunity to speak at seminars.
April 2019 – Santiago, Chile
The second Social Gastronomy Movement global summit was held in Santiago de Chile. We met to discuss and co-create the next stage of the movement. We also went on learning journeys to nearby up-and-running Social Gastronomy projects.
- We gave a masterclass at the Fundación Soymása, which is a refuge for young girls (under age 18) with babies, teaching them to cook basic and inexpensive meals that are nutritious and delicious for both mother and baby.
- We met with local prison catering staff and prisoners in hospitality training.
- We also attended the annual food festival called Ñam Innova. Ñam is the most important food festival in Chile and we attended to support the local Hub.
October 2019 – Malmö, Sweden
The third Summit that we participated in, which was also the inaugural Nordic SGM summit, was held in Malmö to brainstorm and incubate ideas and strategies for the future of the movement.
- We visited the newly opened Nordic Hub called Botildenborg, a fantastic house dating back to 1886 that has been converted to accommodate meeting rooms, training kitchens, and an inspiration centre. The project’s main aim is to work with local people from marginalised communities to teach them about food and farming, contributing to ecological, economical, and social sustainability.
- Met with the Carina Nilsson, Mayor of Malmö, for a reception at the town hall to introduce her to the Nordic Social Gastronomy Hub.
- Invited 24 like-minded organisations already working with food to create social change from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway in order for them to become the first member organisations of the Nordic Hub.
- Helped out at a local food bank, filling up bags with food donated from suppliers. We then handed them out to low-income families that had been issued vouchers.
- Visited community micro-farming projects.
October 2019 – Copenhagen, Denmark
- We visited Østervang, which is located in a Lutheran Church that had just opened a night shelter, to teach the 80 willing volunteers to cook meals for the homeless using leftover fresh food from local supermarkets. The Social Gastronomy team cooked the meal in partnership with local volunteers, making the most of the recovered ingredients. We ran out of cooking space and ended up cooking the meat and whole cabbages on an open fire.
Sharing best practices: One of the great benefits of the movement is sharing best practices. I have visited many projects over the past 4 years and learned a lot. In return, I have hosted other Social Gastronomy members from around the world to introduce them to the work of The Clink Charity—reducing the rate of reoffending by delivering City and Guilds training in hospitality to serving prisoners and supporting them back into society, accommodation and full time employment upon release. I have been working closely with Nicola Gryczka, CEO of Gastromotiva, which has been very beneficial. It has created a link where we can exchange of ideas and practices, we have also shadowed each other in the workplace and met our respective teams that are the lifeblood of all that we do as organisations.
To sign up your organisation and hear more about The Social Gastronomy Movement (its free) please get in touch and either contact…
Geoff Ranson, UK Hub secretary: geoffranson@yahoo.co.uk
Chris Moore, founding member of The Social Gastronomy Movement and also Chief Executive, The Clink Charity chrismoore@theclinkcharity.org