Food is a tool for promoting social impact, ensuring food security, income generation, and human development. For that, Gastromotiva (founded in 2006) is one of the most recognized social initiatives in the country, with the mission of transforming individuals and communities through feeding and nutrition programs. Active in eight Brazilian states and Mexico City, the organization is a pioneer in community mobilization of initiatives related to the spread of Social Gastronomy, through the implementation of educational methodologies aimed at combating food waste and adopting sustainable practices in kitchens. It has the support of top chefs from Brazil and around the world, as well as the food market and social investors from the food sector.
Through professional training projects focused on the productive inclusion of low-income youth and adults, more than 8,400 cooks and entrepreneurs have been trained by Gastromotiva in the food field.
Since 2006, 138 community-based kitchens have been implemented and supported in their maintenance through the Solidarity Kitchen Program, directly impacting the production of more than 3 million sustainable meals served for free to over 160 communities, assisting more than 480,000 people facing food insecurity.
In 2016, Reffetorio Gastromotiva was created, a restaurant-school in Rio de Janeiro, responsible not only for delivering solidarity meals daily but also for developing educational activities and piloting activities related to the restaurant-school that guides the Solidarity Kitchens.
Infrastructure Partnership
To strengthen these two areas of action, with the support of the Alok Institute, Gastromotiva and LDS Charities (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) have formed a partnership, based on the donation – by LDS – of equipment that will allow an increase of about 18% in food offerings for people facing food insecurity. Today, Reffetorio Gastromotiva serves 31,680 meals/year, and Solidarity Kitchens serve 245,400 meals/year.
With the donation of equipment, LDS Charities joins other Gastromotiva partners, enabling significant improvements in the infrastructure of Solidarity Kitchens and Reffetorio Gastromotiva, allowing for the delivery of solidarity meals and the development of activities focused on financial sustainability in the medium term.
The partnership supports:
- Solidarity Kitchen Program – Launched in March 2020, the project focuses on developing community-based kitchens, with the understanding that social work combined with education are fundamental mechanisms for expanding social participation, qualifying community leaders, and modeling social impact initiatives in the food sector. At least 9 (nine) solidarity kitchens in Manaus, São Paulo, Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador will benefit from it.
The list of donated equipment for Solidarity Kitchens includes industrial pasta strainers, organizational boxes, industrial vegetable dryers, stainless steel bowl sets, 6 polyethylene cutting boards, GN sets, 6-burner industrial stoves, convection ovens, refrigerators and freezers, microwaves, industrial blenders, industrial food processors, professional scales, service pans, wok fryers, thermal chafing dishes, stand mixers, industrial axial exhaust fans, Chef Kit (10 pieces), and folding tables. - Reffetorio Gastromotiva – Based on four strategic areas of action where food is the driving force to understand social relations and gastronomy is a key tool for empowering individuals and the local community, Reffetorio Gastromotiva is a restaurant-school that works to combat food waste, promote the right to adequate food, provide technical training linked to citizenship, and commit to community development around the project.
Reffetorio Gastromotiva has already contributed to rescuing over 500 tons of food and provided more than 1.98 million zero-waste meals through service in the city’s downtown area.
The restaurant will receive an increase in utensils and equipment, along with a kitchen renovation, enabling daily solidarity meal delivery, development of educational activities, and piloting restaurant-school activities focused on medium-term financial sustainability.
The renovation will include the kitchen’s adaptation, which may involve replacing the cold storage chamber and receiving a list of equipment that includes: aluminum industrial pasta strainers, organizational boxes, stainless steel bowl sets, 6 polyethylene cutting boards, 6-burner industrial stoves, EOS 510-liter vertical display freezers, low-speed 6/8-liter stainless steel industrial blenders, industrial food processors, triple-bottom stainless steel cookware, wooden service trays, plates, planetary stand mixers, drink dispensers, and a Chef Kit (10 pieces).
Gastromotiva
The organization is part of a system focused on guaranteeing Food and Nutritional Security (SAN) and recognizes that regular and permanent access to quality food should occur sustainably from an environmental, economic, and social perspective. Since its founding, Gastromotiva has been working to combat social inequality, unemployment, and hunger, seeing them as priority agendas that require the modeling of social technologies to promote equitable livelihoods. Therefore, it has opted for the construction of inclusive professional qualification methodologies tied to income generation and improvements in individuals’ quality of life, believing that productive inclusion and income generation are strong indicators of access to citizenship and, consequently, an escape from poverty.
Gastromotiva views the kitchen as a means for socially and environmentally responsible professional practice by creating service hubs for the population in terms of food assistance, which also serve as centers for professional training and improvement. Reffetorio Gastromotiva, inaugurated in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, is a result of the partnership between Gastromotiva, the NGO Food for Soul, founded by renowned Italian chef Massimo Bottura, and food journalist Alexandra Forbes.
The organization uses a Business Intelligence (BI) tool to help monitor the impact generated by the Solidarity Kitchens Program and Reffetorio Gastromotiva.
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
As followers of Jesus Christ, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are committed by covenant to live the two great commandments: love God and love your neighbor. They follow Jesus Christ’s call to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and afflicted.
The individual and church-wide efforts to care for those in need have been essential to their mission since its inception. In 1842, the Relief Society was organized with the responsibility of caring for the poor and ministering to their needs. In 1936, the Church created the welfare program to help care for needy members and strengthen their ability to become self-reliant. In 1985, the Church’s global humanitarian program was formally established.
Church members seek out those in need and assist all of God’s children, regardless of religious affiliation, race, or nationality. The Church, its members, and friends combine donations with volunteer efforts to alleviate suffering and build self-reliance worldwide.
Prophet and President of the Church, Russell M. Nelson, stated, “Those who desire to be called the Lord’s people are ‘willing to bear one another’s burdens… [to] mourn with those who mourn; …and comfort those who stand in need of comfort.’”
