How to Set Up a Community Kitchen

A workshop facilitated by Berend Bombarius.
Public scoby from the b.a.k. Community Portal.
Kindly hosted at De Voorkamer.

Community kitchens are community-based programs in which groups of people come together in the act of cooking, eating, and cleaning. Each kitchen operates differently with their own specific contexts and goals. Nevertheless, they collectivize practices that are otherwise individualized, creating a space in which people can connect and discover common grounds or struggles. This can lead to the origination of new groups that focus on different (social) issues. Furthermore, community kitchens may open possibilities to share costs, planning, and preparation of healthy meals. Altogether, this makes them an ideal tool for people, especially those who are in precarious situations, to gather.

These collective sessions explore different strategies, tools, methodologies, and contexts of how to set up community kitchens. Participants will learn about challenges and opportunities in the theory/practice. People from multiple collectives involved in community kitchens are very welcome to join. We also extend this workshop invitation to anyone who is thinking about supporting or enacting such practices.

THE PLAN

We won’t just be talking, we will also be actively engaging with food. Program is still brewing, times may change, more info coming soon, but for now, here is the plan.

DAY 1: Skipping Night

WHEN: Friday, 27 January, 2023
WHERE: BAK/Utrecht dumpsters
WHAT: We will collect surplus food (skipping/ dumpster-diving), clean, sort and organize the food and already start thinking about what the possibilities of the ingredients are.

DAY 2: Cooking-Up Day

WHEN: Sunday, 29 January, 2023
WHERE: De Voorkamer
WHAT: We will focus on the preparation, the serving, and the cleaning section of community kitchens. Round tables, hands-on workshops, screenings, music…

THE FACILITATOR

Berend (he/him) has been an active coordinator and volunteer for Taste Before You Waste Utrecht since 2015. He has been involved in organizing different community kitchens at different venues but also just on the streets of Utrecht. Furthermore, he tries to link community kitchens and the distribution of food to (radical) politics by providing food at protests, assemblies, political festivals.