People’s Kitchen builds a sense of community by providing informal social spaces where people from a variety of cultures, and economic backgrounds can connect and learn from each other through cooking and sharing food. We invite strangers to come together to transform food waste into nourishing feasts, improvising dishes that just so happen to be plant based, vegetarian, culturally diverse... and, are mostly made from surplus ingredients.
We believe that good food should be available for all, and, where possible, paid in accordance to what people can afford.
As a society, we can address food poverty, food waste, childhood obesity and social isolation issues in holistic ways through creating community spaces with food and well being at the heart.
For over 8 years we've been setting up Weekly/Fortnightly Food Waste Community Feasts based around people simply turning up and helping co-create buffet banquets from surplus. For 5 years, every Sunday we transformed the dance floor at Passing Clouds (Dalston) into a Community Kitchen. We went on to provide Family Sessions at Kingsmead Community Centre in Hackney, Workshops at the Dalston Curve Garden, Young People's Cook, Eat and Sell Sessions at Weavers Adventure Playground in Bethnal Green and also a year of Fortnightly Feasts at the same venue.
For the last 6 years, Kiran Chahal has run People's Kitchen, founding the new projects, and now leading our journey to set up our First Community Cafe and Well Being Hub in Newham. It's a huge step for us, and an opportunity to not only nourish local people on a daily basis over a number of years, but to also grow our organisation into a formal Community Interest Company (CIC).
We plan to focus on our permanent space, and to also start setting up Weekly/Fortnightly People's Kitchen Feasts in underused venues, nourish communities all around London.
Ultimately, People's Kitchen creates opportunities for people to show care through sharing food and to help nourish themselves and others in the process.
