In Peru, food insecurity is a harsh reality that prevents many people from accessing three meals a day, leading to serious health consequences. Within this critical context, a paradox emerges: every year, 12 million tons of food are wasted—an amount that could feed 2 million Peruvians.

To respond to this emergency, our project “Donne Associate nelle Ollas Comunes e Agenti Pastorali” (“Women United in the Ollas Comunes and Pastoral Agents”) aims to improve food security for the residents of the parish of San Andrés de Huaycán, in the capital city of Lima, by strengthening the Ollas Comunes (community kitchens).

We want to challenge the paradox of food insecurity and food waste by equipping people with the skills and tools they need to access and use food recovered from food companies in their district.

What Ollas Comunes are

We believe that the Ollas Comunes are an extraordinary example of self-management and community solidarity. In Italian, it would translate to “shared pot”: the poorest families pool their food resources and cook the same meal together. These are essentially shared — and often informal — community kitchens, born out of the urgent need to fight hunger caused by unemployment and the rising cost of food during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite their efforts, the diets of individuals and families relying on the Ollas are often lacking in essential foods such as fruits and vegetables, which are only occasionally available through donations.

Reducing Food Waste by strengthening the Banco de Alimentos network to recover surplus food from companies and redistribute it to the community through the Ollas Comunes.

Improving Food Security by enhancing the organisation and equipment of the Ollas Comunes and promoting the adoption of good practices in food storage, preparation, and residual waste management.

Training Courses

Thanks to the project, we are providing practical skills to the women involved in the Ollas Comunes and to pastoral agents. The training sessions and workshops mainly focus on food preservation, food safety, and recycling. These meetings are a valuable opportunity for growth and learning, especially for women who play a key role in promoting food security within their Ollas.

Through the project’s training component, our primary goal is to extend the shelf life of recovered food while preserving its nutritional value.
During the workshops, each method is explained in detail and demonstrated in practice, allowing the women to gain skills they can use in their everyday lives and share within their communities.

Results from the First Year

In 2023, we worked with 20 Ollas Comunes.
This had a ripple effect, involving 80 women actively engaged, 400 families benefiting from the services of the Ollas, and 90 pastoral agents.

The creation of a sustainable food system necessarily involves the engagement of the entire community. In this case, the collaboration and willingness of supermarkets, shops, and food businesses in the district have been essential. A Banco de Alimentos (Food Bank) operates in the area and has been one of our first partners and points of contact. One of our goals was precisely to encourage companies to join the Food Bank, expanding its network as much as possible.

For merchants and entrepreneurs, this is an opportunity to do good in two ways: by reducing waste on one hand and by providing food to those in need on the other. Food surpluses and scraps from businesses, channeled through the Food Bank network, are thus redistributed to the community through the Ollas Comunes (community kitchens).

Thanks to…

The project is co-funded by
the Conferenza Episcopale Italiana through the 8xmille program

In collaboration with
Parroquia San Andrés de Huaycán