TEXT: JUAN FRYBORT IMAGES: ISTOCK
Granny’s recipes travel to El Salvador
Laura Robles, a 17-yearold student, decided that every young person should know how to prepare a lentil dish. And that drove her to compile her grandmother’s recipes. What she did not know on starting this school project was that this would end up in a book that has already raked in over 4,000 euros, which she has donated to a Manos Unidas project in El Salvador. Croquettes, potato casserole, stew, a tasty cheeks dish or delicious desserts, all the secrets of traditional cooking lie hidden within the pages of the book La cocina no escrita de mi abuela [My Grandmother’s Unwritten Dishes]. Recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation in her family, to which Laura has added a touch of creativity and contemporary language, so that today’s digital natives can understand it. Laura believes that the problem many youngsters face when tackling a recipe is that they do not understand many cooking terms. So she created a glossary that, for example, explains what ‘cutting in julienne strips’ or ‘macerating food’ means. A total of 60 recipes that not only have the merit of introducing young people to the pleasures of cooking; they have also enabled the purchase of school material and health kits for children from needy families at Laura’s school, and will allow some children in El Salvador to also enjoy the benefits of her grandmother’s recipes. https://www.facebook. com/RoblesRestaurantes
Inclusive Kiosks
The year 2020 has already seen the city of Barcelona become more inclusive. Since February, two kiosks run by people with disabilities will combine the sale of newspapers and magazines with the sale of sustainable, solidarity products produced by social enterprises and individuals with special needs.
As well as its inclusive nature, this initiative by the Diverscoop cooperative is aiming to turn these establishments into a reference point for revitalizing their respective neighborhoods. The idea is to sell products closely linked to the neighborhood and offer parcel collection services. But without forgetting the problems of local residents. The first step to be taken in this regard is to support individuals who feel lonely. These kiosks will distribute the press to those living in the local area and form part of the Vincles project, an initiative of the Barcelona City Council to help the elderly combat loneliness, thanks to the possibilities offered by the new technologies.
The Diverscoop cooperative hopes to be running seven such kiosks by the end of 2020.
#diverscoop
Solidarity Taxes
When we buy food, we always pay some sales tax. And when our purchase is to be donated, for example in a food collection campaign, it is no different; the corresponding tax still has to be paid. Santiago López, spokesman for the Spanish National Food Solidarity Association, believes that the tax – in this case VAT – we pay when buying food to be donated, should be set aside to supplement the donation. Were this initiative already a reality, taking an average VAT rate on food of 7.5 percent and over 21 million kilograms of food collected in the 2018 campaign, the corresponding VAT would have enabled a further 1.6 million kilos to be donated.
This association has managed to meet up with several parliamentary groups in the Spanish Lower House, who have welcomed this proposal. They are currently seeking signatures to their online petition on the platform change. org, so that this initiative can be presented to the Ministry of Finance and Public Service. They hope to gain sufficient numbers for the matter to reach parliament. The goal is to collect 150,000 signatures. @ANDASSOLIDARIO