Ruthi is one of our makers at the Hope Jewellery project in Peru. Twice a week, in between making jewellery for us, she volunteers at the local Comedor alongside other local women, to prepare food for their local community. During our last trip, Ruthi took us along to the Comedor to show us around and introduce us to the rest of the team.
HISTORY
The comedores populares started in the 80's as a grassroots movement of women. Working together they provided their local communities with either free or low cost nutritional meals for those in need during a difficult political and economic time for the country. Centralising the buying and preparation of the food reduced the overall cost resulting in an affordable way for the community to eat. Originally funded by themselves, it has developed over the years and is now supported by the government and other organisations. The scheme is now organised by the national federation of comedores who help coordinate all the local groups.
THE COMEDOR
Each day two women work together to prepare the daily menu which generally consists of a soup and a main. The organisations are provided with some ingredients for example, rice, pulses and oil. The local women buy additional ingredients for example vegetables to supplement the chosen menu for the day which they prepare large pots of. The meals are made from traditional local recipes and having tried it for ourselves, we can confirm they're delicious!
The pricing is broken down in to three different categories, depending on the individuals circumstances; free, semi-contributory and contributory. The average meal costs are kept to a minimum making it a very cost effective option for locals to eat there. Ruthi is often joined by her lovely sister Natty for lunch as it's just round the corner from the workshop!
To find out more about Ruthi take a look at one of our previous blogs all about the collection we named after her!