The Social Kitchen Associação Gastromotiva
Associação Gastromotiva
Alok Institute and Associação Gastromotiva (Gastromotiva Association), came together to represent and indorse everyone’s right to have adequate food, and to support food and nutrition education.
Gastromotiva prioritizes the professional qualification of low-income youth and adults, and local development of communities and peripheral territories whose populations are in a social vulnerable situation. Gastromotiva works are based on 53 social kitchens in Brazilian communities located in Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro; in São Paulo, State of São Paulo; and in Curitiba, State of Paraná.
Founded by chef and social entrepreneur David Hertz, the Social Kitchens act directly to fight hunger and food waste.
Through the partnership with Gastromotiva, Instituto Alok supports Vanessa Sant’Ana’s chef, a 45-year-old entrepreneur who lives in Bangu (RJ) and its dedication allows it to offer 1,200 meals a month to vulnerable citizens.
Vanessa is graduated from the course “Entrepreneurship: Make and Sell” at Gastromotiva. She owns Alecrim Healthy Gastronomy, a micro-enterprise started in 2018 with a focus on healthy frozen meals.
In addition to providing nutritious vegan food, its kitchen also offers professional training to drug addicts, who are undergoing treatment in therapeutic communities, through workshops on cooking techniques, good practices in food service, and vegetable-based recipes, among others.
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Journey
Currently, Vanessa has a full scholarship (100%) at UNISUAM university, where she studies Nutrition, and divides her time between Solidarity Kitchen, her business and her studies. Vanessa’s family income comes from her business, where she has the operational support of her husband, Laercio Luz, who is also a cook.
Since June 2020, she has been leading a Solidary Gastromotive Kitchen within her residence, in the Aliança Village community, Bangu (RJ). Its kitchen produces vegetable-based meals, and weekly serves 300 homeless people, socially vulnerable families, and drug addicts.
Partnership
Along with other organizations and companies, the partnership strengthens the Social Kitchen Training Program, which includes:
● Direct assistance to communities in situations of social vulnerability and food insecurity (low-income individuals and families), through the provision of 360 thousand meals projected for the year 2021.
● Workshops for the use of all the edible parts of food, and nutrition education for families served by Social Kitchens. The workshops promote awareness and reach indirect impact to around 600 people.
● Training of social cooks with a focus on human development, social gastronomy and entrepreneurship.
● Helping to develop projects and social businesses with a view to generating income and employability in the field of gastronomy.
● Monitoring in its three institutional bases (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Curitiba), 150 families in a situation of food insecurity.
