Social Gastronomy Spreads to Argentina

During the months of April and May, several events were organized by active members of our Argentine community. A breakfast under the theme “Social Gastronomy as a collaborative movement” took place on April 12th in Buenos Aires convening several guests to have an open dialogue and preliminary talks on co-creating an SGM Hub in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Patrick Honauer, SGM team core member, was able to participate in the discussion and he also flew to Santa Fe province where he was invited to talk about Social Gastronomy as a tool to impact people's lives in a seminar together with Juan Ignacio Gerardi from Bioconexión, a cooperative from Jujuy internationally awarded for its contribution to achieving the UN Social Development Goals. The event was organized by chef Sebastián Dalla Costa in collaboration with Sebastian Mujica, Secretary of Social Development in San José de Rincón, who work at the municipal community kitchen since 2018 to improve the menu provided to local communities by incorporating locally-grown fruits and vegetables, working with local fisheries and creating a community garden.

As part of his visit, Patrick also visited El Molino, Fabrica Cultural, an old flour mill that has been relaunched by the provincial government to become a cultural factory for intergenerational exchange. The second phase of this project will be inaugurated at the end of May to accommodate a bakery that will impart classes and will bring about experiences combining art, expression and gastronomy. During the visit to El Molino, Juan Ignacio gave a class on how to make biodegradable sorbet to a group of young girls from the community.

A second breakfast also took place in Buenos Aires on May 13th to continue the discussions on a potential backbone organization that will facilitate the launch of a future Hub in Buenos Aires. Among other guests in attendance the group was joined by chefs Antonio Soriano (Park Hyatt Buenos Aires), Felicitas Pizarro (Proyecto Viapi) Francisco Sade (Instituto Mariano Moreno), Andrea Jantar (De la Olla), Sebastián Dalla Costa (Manifiesto Umami), and the projects CookMaster, Salú –club de mesa y cocina–, Nilus.org, Mesabierta.org, Proyecto Colagreco and representatives of Gastronomy and Sustainability –Sustentag– and other local Certified B Corporations.

Thank you all for your hard work and efforts to help the Movement get in traction in Argentina! Special appreciation goes to Mariana Ciarlotti, Sebastián Dalla Costa, Sebastián Mujica, Gabriela Buffa and Luis Lusardi.