SGM Hub in Switzerland organizes productive and inspiring roundtable event

In November, Cuisine sans frontières, the Zurich Hub of the Social Gastronomy Movement, hosted an event for people and organizations interested in learning more about the SGM and how to get involved. Around 35 people with very diverse backgrounds participated, providing the Hub with important feedback and direction to build a powerful local SG community and to guide future interactions. The event was a starting point to bring relevant stakeholders and friends of SG together to think about where the local community sees needs for social change and where each participant of the roundtable could contribute to the Movement, as well as ways the Movement could support them.

After each person briefly presented themselves and their intentions for attending the event, participants were divided into sub-groups and asked to brainstorm where they see opportunities for collaboration to use food and gastronomy for social change. In a second round, the discussion centered on what they can bring to the community and how they could work together to have an even larger impact using the strength of the Swiss community and network.

Three broad thematic areas came out of the discussions that will guide the future of the Movement in Switzerland.

Addressing the working environment in Social Gastronomy, particularly for chefs, to attract more young people to the field of cuisine and to train marginalized people, addressing the need for trained professionals in gastronomy
Improving communications with and among participants and relevant stakeholders to clarify what already exists and what else is happening in the field of Social Gastronomy in Switzerland
Bolstering the networking and project implementation assistance elements of the Movement to facilitate partnerships and collaborations

In the new year, participants will attend smaller thematic roundtables for each of these areas. Anna Hofmann, Cuisine sans frontière’s Managing Director, said that the Hub hopes to continue hosting these roundtables focused on collaboration and cooperation every few months next year, as well as hosting an annual summit for everyone in the Movement to come together.

“It was very motivating,” said Hofmann. “We had so many ideas, and really wanted to see the ideas become more physical, more of a reality. And it was so great to see the different backgrounds of everyone who came.”

Hofmann also noted that another part of their 2020 strategy will be to continue hosting a monthly dinner service in Zurich in which they come together to connect and to cook and enjoy a meal as a group. The dinners take place at dieCuisine, the Hub’s SGM headquarters and a recently renovated space that provides affordable housing to students, refugees, and migrants. The space’s residents, as well as the general public, are all invited to participate. “These dinners are a way to build community among that group,” Hofmann said. “We want to create an exchange of ideas and cultures among groups of people who have just arrived in Switzerland and those who have been living there a long time.”

Cuisine sans frontières was founded in 2005 and got involved in the Movement in 2018. The organization is based in Switzerland, but has projects running in Europe, South America, Africa, and the Middle East. Its core focus is bringing people together around a table to eat as a group, as this tradition occurs across cultures and is a way to maintain or rebuild a sense of community, particularly in extreme poverty or crisis situations. The organization also works with gastronomic education, providing people with the necessary skills to be self-sufficient and provide a better life for themselves, their families, and their communities. It is currently organizing its SGM actions out of a food innovation lab and center for refugees, migrants, and students in Zurich called dieCuisine.