Chefs with Compassion has again beat its own target of 67 000 litres of soup, by cooking 106 895 litres and feeding 427 000 people for Mandela Day, on Thursday.
Chefs with Compassion is an initiative inspired by Covid-19 (thousands lost their jobs, and thus experienced food insecurity) aiming to eradicate hunger that is currently affecting millions of South Africans.
With an annual target of 67 000 litres of soup every Mandela Day, culinary schools, hotels, companies and food chains partake in a nationwide cookabout, cooking and feeding the vulnerable cups of soup.
According to the founding director of Chefs with Compassion, Coo Pillay, since the birth of the initiative in 2020, they have for four years surpassed their 67 000 litre target.
For their 2020 debut, they fed over 309 000 people. Despite the 2021 July looting in parts of Kwazulu-Natal, which hindered chefs and other parties from cooking, they still passed their target with 70 000 litres and over 284 000 people were fed.
The year 2022, 362 000 people were fed. Additionally, Chefs with Compassion exceeded the target by 104 000 litres of soup and fed 417 000 people last year.
Pillay noted with these positive numbers, Chefs with Compassion is motivated to overcome the fight against food insecurity and raise awareness about hunger by reusing healthy food waste.
“The 67000 litres of soup for Mandela Day is honouring the legacy for Mandela and raising awareness about food insecurity in the country. Millions of South Africans are food insecure. Tens of million tons of food get wasted annually. We need to make a difference and change that mindset. Our goal with all the NGOs is to counter food insecurity,” said Pillay.
When members of the food industry are more actively involved in tackling food insecurity, a vast number of those who retire the day on an empty stomach shows a great decrease, said Chefs with Compassion chairperson, James Khoza.
“Chefs with Compassion is an opportunity for us, chefs, to feed people and make sure they don't go to bed hungry. Mandela Day must be an everyday thing, it’s not just today. I’d like to thank our volunteers, our sponsors and the chefs,” said Khoza.
Pillay explained that they partnered with a handful of stakeholders in order to feed a great number of people and surpass the target 67 000 litres.
“This year’s campaign, we received the generous support of the poultry industry driven by our partner, the Poultry Bulletin. Through them, we got sponsorship from various chicken brands who each donated R67 000 worth of chicken, equating to 7.5 tons of chicken,” said Pillay.
Saturday Star