B The Change : Together, let's work toward inclusive gastronomy
Baking is a great way to promote professional and social integration. Graînes de Pâtissier, Farinez-vous, Refugee Food Festival. This month, discover three solidarity initiatives taken to promote a more inclusive world of gastronomy.
A professional second chance
Let's discover Graines de Pâtissier, Fonds Solidaire Valrhona 's program to foster more inclusivity in the gastronomical sector.
These days, baking, pastry-making and manual trades in general are experiencing great difficulties recruiting. Graines de Pâtissier is all about encouraging young people in affirming their desire to pursue a profession and give them the chance to find out what it's like to be a pastry chef. The program gives young people from 16 to 25 years of age who are excluded from the workplace a professional opportunity in an industry that is actively recruiting. Launched in 2017, it gives young people the chance to get a taste of the pastry-making industry before committing to a training program, and professionals the chance to recruit a motivated young person who has been trained in the basics of pastry-making. In 2020, despite the pandemic, 58 young people were trained in five locations. Since then, 57% of them have begun a training course in pastry-making and catering. In 2021 the program is taking place in ten different locations and aims to train 120 young people.
Small businesses with a big heart
We then spoke to the team at Farinez Vous, an artisanal, community-driven bakery with sustainable values in Paris, which has been in business for ten years now.What's special about this bakery is that it hosts and trains adults who are changing careers, giving them the opportunity to gain experience in a rewarding trade with a future. Farinez’vous is the perfect combination of social and environmental responsibility - a great initiative to support!
When baking promotes integration
We can now learn about Refugee Food Festival, a project with the goal of using food and cuisine to change how we see refugees and of giving refugees employment opportunities in the restaurant industry.
The idea is simple: to foster collaboration between restaurants and refugees who are cooks and facilitate their access to jobs in the food industry. The project came into being in 2016 thanks to the work of concerned Parisians who wanted to stand up for the integration of refugees in their city. While traveling in 18 countries, discovering a variety of cuisines and sharing meals with dozens of people throughout the world, Marine Mandrila and Louis Martin became aware that kitchens and mealtimes are an incredible vector of discovering new things and building cultural ties. In the midst of 'the refugee crisis', they wanted to use cooking and the French culinary scene to counteract the disparaging discourse on refugees by mobilizing the general population. Thus, the Refugee Food Festival was born. The goal of this festival is to raise awareness about the state of refugees by creating spaces where people can meet and share information and content on the subject. The festival also aims to integrate refugees professionally and socially and to bring positive attention to different culinary heritages.
If you are a chef or a caterer, you can get involved by hosting an intern or recruiting someone who has completed their training program. Get in touch: hello@refugeefoodfestival.com
We'll see you next month for a new topic with B the Change.
