A hearty, nourishing cup of soup for thousands of hungry people – it’s 268 000 cups of kindness, prepared with compassion by over 300 chefs in 10 cities in the spirit of Madiba’s call to ‘take action inspire change’.
SA Harvest and Chefs with Compassion, two organisationsrooted in a philosophy of rescuing food to provide meals to the most vulnerable in our society, are rising to Madiba’s call through the collective action of hundreds of chefs who are doing what they love to do as part of the #67000litres for Mandela Day cook-a-thon.
Approximately 268 000 people in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban, Bloemfontein, Mokopane, Rustenburg, Vereeniging, Port Elizabeth and Nelspruit were served a hearty, nutritious soup cooked with compassion and care by chefs from restaurants, hotels, cooking schools and catering operations.
Says Chef Coo Pillay, National Project Manager of Chefs with Compassion, “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response from chefs, sponsors, markets and suppliers all over South Africa. The spirit of Mandela is alive and well in the hospitality industry, despite the challenges we are facing.” Since 6th April, Chefs with Compassion has provided meals to over 400 000 people through its extensive network of compassionate chefs.
Chefs with Compassion and SA Harvest are calling on all South Africans to join them in an incredible Mandela Day journey by helping Chefs with Compassion continue its work of providing meals to poverty-stricken communities in South Africa. All it takes is a donation of R10 per meal – less than the cost of a cappuccino.
Says Ozzy Nel, Operations Manager of SA Harvest, “Even before this pandemic, 13 million South African men, women and children went to bed hungry. Now its 18 million! Against this backdrop, consider that 10 million tons of food goes to waste every year. SA Harvest is creating a food rescue and distribution platform that will ultimately enable us to realiseour mission to ensure that every South African is able to access adequate nutritious food on a daily basis. This platform is based on four pillars – food rescue, education, engagement and innovation. The Mandela Day initiative to cook 67 000 litres of soup will put the spotlight on the massive issue of food waste in South Africa.” Since lockdown began, SA harvest has delivered 1.7 million meals to a range of beneficiaries who feed hungry people daily.
Over 300 chefs in 10 cities cooked soup with surplus produce rescued by SA Harvest and Chefs with Compassion, for over 80 beneficiary organisations around the country. As the grand finale to the massive 67 000 litres cook-a-thon for Mandela Day, food trucks in the three major centres travelled in convoy to deliver the soup to vulnerable communities, along with SA Harvest’s trucks.
“Whether we reach the target or not, the conclusion of this initiative will be a celebration of how an industry that has suffered the most at the hands of the pandemic has set aside its own hardships in the true spirit of Madiba to rise to the challenge of feeding those in need,” says Chef Coo.
Follow the #67000litres journey from 6h00 to 14h30 on Saturday, 18 July on https://www.facebook.com/chefswithcompassion and https://www.facebook.com/saharvest using the hashtags #67000litres #MandelaDay #chefswithcompassion #saharvest.
Edited by Thembi Siaga
