Looking back on the 2021 Social Gastronomy Movement Summit

Chefs, activists, organizational leaders, educators, farmers, and food lovers from over sixty countries joined this year's Social Gastronomy Movement Summit throughout the weekend of World Food Day (October 15-17, 2021)

Together we gathered both online and in-person for dialogue, virtual cooking classes, and local action. From conversation around community resilience to cultural reclamation, the Universal Series focused on bringing people together around the power of food to generate social change.

On Friday, the movement kicked off the summit with the Universal Table, a discussion facilitated by Charles Holmes around food systems transformation and SGM's recipe of 'connection, collaboration, and partnerships.'
 

Together, representatives of city governments, private companies, youth activism, international organizations, and small businesses were sitting at the same (virtual) table. In this one-hour dialogue, table guests shared stories and insights around co-creating an equitable and healthy future, including identifying shared goals and focusing on trust-based relationships.
 

 

Art by Rodrigo Bueno

 

Table guests included:

  • Charles McNeill - Senior Advisor, Forest, and Climate at UN Environment Program (UNEP) (USA)

  • Michelle Grogg - Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Development at Cargill (USA)

  • Carina Nilsson - Mayor of Malmö (Sweden)

  • Mariana Vasconcelos - CEO and Founder of AgroSmart (Brazil)

  • Tulsi Giri - Co-Creator at Food Networks and social entrepreneur (Nepal)

  • Maureen Muketha - Youth Activist and Founder of Tule Vyema (Kenya)

  • Mauricio Rodas - Former Mayor of Quito (Ecuador)

Following the main dialogue, the table guests convened in smaller breakout rooms so that everyone could carry on the conversation and reflect on their role in food systems transformation.
 

“The team at SGM has demonstrated in this year‘s Summit what is possible, even in a virtual space, when you bring together people with passion, commitment to a better future, and deep care for others. This Summit truly demonstrated what can be possible when technology and hearts meet”
— Charles Holmes

Even before the opening session, which began at 11 am BRT, social gastronomy members worldwide were busy bringing good food to their communities! The #UniversalPlate campaign was a collective effort of local organizations, restaurants, universities, companies, municipalities, and individuals from over 30 countries. Throughout the weekend, they rallied, cooked, and served over 850,000 meals as an act of solidarity toward Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger.

For many organizations, cooking and distributing food is something they do every day, and for them, this weekend was a celebration of their work. This campaign also served as an opportunity for people to get inspired by the power of food and discover new ways to get involved and support their community.

 

In order Left to Right: Row 1 - Brazil, Mexico, Mexico, Switzerland; Row 2 - Germany, Ghana, Peru, Colombia; Row 3: Guatemala, Philippines, Kenya

 

There are so many beautiful actions to be shared from the #UniversalPlate, and here we will cover only a few. Stay tuned on SGM's blog, website, and more to dive deeper into what happened as we share the stories from around the world. We can't wait to hear from all of the big hearts that took part in the action.

For example, in Bogota, Colombia, more than 40 organizations came together to serve approximately 10,000 meals. This action united players from across sectors, including two delivery food delivery companies. Participating entities signed a manifesto at the end of the action, committing to work toward SGD:2 Zero Hunger in the capital city.

Across the Atlantic, in Sweden, Botelinberg cooked up the #UniversalPlate with some creativity. In a country that is not highly affected by food insecurity, instead of focusing on distribution, they used the power of a meal to bridge communities. Local faith leaders from the neighboring mosque and church were invited to the urban farm school to enjoy a moment of connection and a delicious lunch.

To close out the weekend, we all gathered in the Universal Kitchen. to learn from and cook with 23 wonderful chefs. Before taking out our pans and chopping our veg, we turned up the heat with some jams from musician Jurgis DID. Once we burned some energy dancing and singing along, we joined our classes to learn from incredible cooks from India, Colombia, France, Kenya, Ireland, Turkey, Brazil, the United States of America, Guatemala, Bolivia, Belgium, and Costa Rica.

 

  • Atreyee Madhukalya

  • Ariane Jauregui

  • Caterina Ravano

  • Nic Omundo

  • Hussain Shahzad

  • Chef Jordi Gallego (Griffith Foods)

  • Chef Spacey

  • Ninon Gouronnec

  • Soraya Sánchez Fernández

  • Mustafa Uzel

  • Patrick Bragato

  • Elisangela Oliveira de Freitas

  • Ana Rodrigues

  • Ariana Diaz

  • Sandra Rocha

  • Chef Valeria Hernandez (Griffith Foods Chefs)

  • Norma Pérez

  • The Salvi VeganChef Alex Hernandez (Migrant Kitchen - Charlie)

  • Chef Leticia Moreinos Schwartz'

  • Johana Jaguandoy

  • Laura Tibaquira and Camila
    Amalia Moreno-Damgaard

  • Charles Michel (Katie)


We are so grateful for the effort, care, and love each of these hosts put into these classes. A special shout-out to Charles Michel for opening group two and matching Jurgis's energy with your words! Also, thank you so much to Chef Jordi and Chef Valeria from Griffith Foods, our partner, for sharing your knowledge with this global community.

While the summit may be over, our work is not. As mentioned before, there are many stories to come and many more opportunities and possibilities ahead. If you are not a member of SGM but wish to engage more with this community of social gastronauts, join us, it would be great to have you on board. 

SGM Team