The Social Gastronomy Movement is a human-centered movement that uses food and gastronomy to address social inequality, improve nutrition education, eliminate food waste and create jobs.
Gastromotiva is on the leading edge of the Social Gastronomy Movement. The Brazilian NGO, founded in 2006 by chef David Hertz, provides vocational kitchen training, entrepreneurial classes and nutrition education to create opportunities for those living on the margins of society, while also working to reduce food waste.
Its impact is on full display at Refettorio Gastromotiva, a community kitchen in Rio de Janeiro that serves as both a school and a restaurant. Here, students receive free vocational training and prepare delicious, healthy meals made from food surplus that would otherwise go to waste. The meals are served restaurant-style to people in need, in a space that encourages dialogue and companionship.
Cargill and Gastromotiva are partnering to globalize the Social Gastronomy Movement, and create a food system that works for all. As a founding partner of the Social Gastronomy Movement, Cargill has pledged $1.5 million over three years to help scale up the movement by sharing our expertise, engaging our stakeholders around the world and making connections across our supply chains.
We may seem like unlikely partners, but we are both focused on the same challenges: ensuring access to food, preventing food waste, creating opportunities in the food and agricultural sector, and providing sustainable nutrition that supports healthier lives and stronger communities. Our shared goals are in support of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Food unites all of us. While the Social Gastronomy Movement has been largely driven by chefs, they cannot do it alone. Click here to learn how to join the movement!
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Through partnerships, NGO aims to scale Social Gastronomy Movement.
Supporting Gastromotiva during the Rio Olympics
In 2016, Cargill supported an initiative that transformed surplus food from the event into dishes prepared by renowned chefs, served to people in need.