Food Solidarity Podcast Episode #4 Donia Souad Amamra- Meet My Mama
Sometimes, the simple act of watching a film can bring about a profound question or observation that can inspire you to change the world. This was the case for Donia Souad Amamra when she saw Ritesh Batra’s 2013 film The Lunchbox.
Though she was always interested in food and social change, it was when she watched this film that she realized-
5:19 “There are so many women, Mamas, who cook everyday for their family and you don’t see them at all when you see the gastronomy world, you only see men. […] But we all know that the Mamas are the best chefs ever.”
Women, and more particularly, mothers, are the teachers of the best chefs in the world, yet they are left out of the line-of-vision when we think of gastronomy. Some of the best cooks in the world are mothers, and in many cases, migrant mothers. How is it that we can engage that tradition, passion, and skill and use it as a tool to build bridges between communities and cultures?
17:49 “You don’t need to speak the same language to share a good meal [..] it’s like a universal language, there is a universal power through cooking to make people realize that they just need a good meal, a good mama to enjoy life and to learn more about people.”
Donia is the co-founder of Meet my Mama, a social start-up that serves a community of migrant women that are entrepreneurs in the catering industry in Paris. The goal of the project is to empower these women to use their culinary gifts to share their culture through food.
Right now, the organization has over 300 mamas that have participated in their culinary training and catering business. The Mamas of Meet my Mama, serve a network of over 1000 corporate clients for events of all sizes. These events are an opportunity for mamas to gain exposure in the industry, and share their culture and skill.
The Mama's have committed to giving back. Their program ‘Mama Solidarity’ is a response to Covid-19, where they pay mamas to cook meals which are then given to the homeless and populations in need.
“Our vision is to make society and the food industry more inclusive, more responsible, with the Mamas. We want [them] to be know for their talents, for their gifts for cooking, known for their culture”
Meet My Mama, like all of the organizations featured on the first 10 episodes of the Food Solidarity Podcast, was was of the 10 organizations selected from around the world to receive the first round of $10,000 grants of the Food Solidarity Fund by SGM.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about the inspiration behind Meet My Mama, and how food can be a tool to help women acclimate to their new home and build a name for themselves as chefs and entrepreneurs.