'Food Relations', the kitchen as a community vehicle for the inclusion of immigrant people

Eating is a basic human need however, it is more than that as it unites people from all over. Based on this idea, the 'FoodRelations' project was established. It is a European initiative that aims to create space for social, intercultural, and inclusive participation of immigrant people through food. It can vary from an urban garden to a community kitchen.

In Catalonia, this project, which was presented on February 16, is promoted by the 'Associació Benestar i Desenvolupament' (ABD). This entity will implement the initiative in Barcelona and L'Hospitalet. At the European level, and in parallel, 'FoodRelations' is being developed in the European cities of Milan (Italy), Thessaloniki (Greece), and Freiburg (Germany).

The head of the ABD project, Mireia Munté, explains that the first executive phase of the project will consist of doing a community kitchen course to train 15 people from different origins in L'Hospitalet. "These people will receive training and will have the possibility to increase their skills and have more job opportunities," says Munté. Through the course, which will be given by the 'Fundació Espigoladors', the entity will create a gastronomic and social product a popular recipe to value the gastronomic diversity that exists in the territory.

At the same time, ABD will organize community events to visualize the project and the different human relations that are established in the kitchen environment. "It's about making social innovation initiatives around food," says the person in charge. The first of them began on February 16, the day in which ABD presented the project to L'Hospitalet and offered the community the collaboration of other entities in the area. The project involves 100 people. The next step, says Munté, will be to "export" this initiative in schools and to make a documentary, which will be presented in September, on how the project and the experiences of each country are born.