What happens next? Honestly, no one knows.
One thousand people, including chefs, restaurateurs and journalists, recently connected over a Zoom conference, hosted by the Basque Culinary Centre, to discuss the future of gastronomy: Only to find that no one has answers.
Yet, despite the unprecedented uncertainty COVID-19 has brought to the hospitality industry, with thousands of workers losing jobs overnight, the mood was one of feisty determination to stay relevant in a world that needs gastronomy: perhaps now more than ever.
“We are in a political and economic crisis. In a country like Brazil, it is impossible to lock down favelas — people are more worried about their jobs than the virus,” says Chef David Hertz, speaking from Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. David co-founded Gastromotiva, an NGO that empowers socially-vulnerable communities through kitchen vocational training.
Discussing how chefs around the world are now using their resources and skills to feed the vulnerable, he adds, “It is time to focus on the essentials, and practice generosity. Solidarity kitchens — this is our response to COVID-19. We have to get involved now more than ever.”
David explains that in Brazil, restaurants are pivoting to stay relevant by housing people and feeding the hungry in their neighbourhoods. “Everyone is afraid. We don’t know what comes next. But this is a movement of chefs fighting for changes that need to be made so restaurants can survive.” Gastromotiva is also helping students who live in the favelas to cook nutritious meals for their communities from their homes by connecting them to food banks, which in turn are funded by donations. “We have never had so much philanthropy in Brazil,” says David.
From San Fransisco, Chef, author and consultant Anthony says the pandemic has showed how the food system is fundamentally broken. Stating that the current economic model leaves workers vulnerable and is environmentally destructive, he says the pandemic reminds the industry about the need to “incorporate resilience and social responsibility into our business models.”
In Ghana too, COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of the hospitality industry. Chef Elijah Amoo Addo, who runs Food For All Africa, a community food support centre, logs on from Accra to emphasise that the pandemic has “proven the importance of what we have been talking about the food supply chain for the past five years.” His mission has been to find ways to redistribute excess stock from farmers, suppliers and restaurants to orphanages, hospitals and schools, then train cooks to make delicious meals out of this, thus preventing food waste.
“In Ghana, over 40% of the work force is in hospitality. When restaurants closed, we found ourselves feeding those who weeks ago were feeding others: chefs, waiters, dish washers… This is how fragile our industry is. And it took just a week after the lockdown,” says Elijah.
He adds that suppliers and farms are now helping the cooks and restaurants that helped them.
“As chefs, we usually feed those who can pay for the food and our skills,” he says, adding, “I believe it is time we realise that one of the guiding principles of our profession is to serve society as well with our skills.”
Silvia Rozas getting gourmet meals ready for delivery to hospital staff
| Photo Credit:
Birraria La Corte
By doing this, people in the industry are finding work again, and professional kitchens are stirring back to life, as influential chefs find ways to connect philanthropists, producers, farmers and cooks to feed people impacted by the pandemic.
Chef Diego Guerrero, whose Madrid restaurant DSTAgE has two Michelin stars, for instance, is collaborating in the World Central Kitchen Project, which supports small, independent restaurants. The project works with them to supply meals to food-insecure families, isolated seniors and healthcare workers in COVID-19 hotspots. Donations support these meals as well as the cooks and staff who put them together.
Diego has closed DSTAgE, and is putting his energy into helping volunteers: his professional skills are vital to plating up thousands of meals with basic ingredients, making them tasty and nutritious. “This is an emergency,” he says, adding, “I am certain that gastronomy has transformative potential. In situations like this, food is essential.”
Meanwhile, in Venice, Chefs Sylvia Rozas and Marco Zambon are working with small producers, helping them preserve harvests by making products that can be consumed later, like preserves and jams.
Their venture began when they cooked a three-course meal for 50 workers at the San Giovanni e Paolo Hospital in Venice on Easter Sunday, inspiring them to find sustainable ways to to help. “Chefs and restaurants have the ability to influence the general population,” says Sylvia, adding, “It is our role to recover tradition and local culture by offering delicious yet healthy food.” The two use a boat to move produce from farmers and fishermen to restaurants, in their efforts to be “a bridge.”
Says Sylvia, “The important thing for us has been to remain active, and to continue fighting so that together we can move forward.”
Culinary Prize
- Nominations are open until July 1, Wednesday, for the 2020 Basque Culinary World Prize, celebrating chefs who transform society through gastronomy. This year’s Prize will include a significant focus on chefs who have addressed the impact of the pandemic on the culinary industry and wider society. Nominations must be made through https://www.basqueculinary worldprize.com/
