A new community kitchen which will give out free meals opened this doors today to local people, with the aim of tackling both food waste and helping to feed people.
The Botley Community Kitchen officially opened this afternoon at the Seacourt Bridge pub in West Way, Botley, with MP Layla Moran cutting the ribbon and a pair of alpacas from a nearby farm keeping pubgoers occupied.
The project is a joint endeavour between Botley Community Kitchen itself, Oxford Food Hub and the pub.
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Surplus vegetables are picked up from Oxford Food Hub where they are taken to the pub and cooked into a curry with rice, which is then handed out for free to the community during Seacourt Bridge’s quiet hours.
Saman Jamshidifard, who runs the community kitchen, explained that the goal of the project is to first-and-foremost reduce food waste but by doing this they also help people in need.
He said: “I have wanted to do this for about 10 years now but what held me back was that if I set up in a community centre or something like that, I had to become a legal entity. Being a part-time university I did not fancy becoming the director of a charity.
“When I saw the opportunity [at the pub] and saw it was not doing anything in the afternoons I approached Tracy and her area manager asked head office.
“They said ‘yeah go for it, it is good for the community’.”
Mr Jamshidifard hopes people who have lived in Botley their whole lives and never met will meet at the community kitchen.
“I believe food connects people. I want people, whether they are the richest in our community or have the most financial insecurity, to come together and have the same meal using surplus food,” he explained.
Tracy Dennell, manager at Seacourt Bridge, said: “Pubs are all about the community and I have always wanted to help people out as much as we possibly can.
“Yes, the pub is a business, but as we are a part of the community we are to get people together as well.”
Marcelo Pollack, the interim manager of Oxford Food Hub, said the hub has seen a huge increase in demand for its services.
“Our focus has somewhat changed in focusing on solely food waste to also covering the issue of food poverty as well.
“Demand has increased so significantly that it difficult for food supply to meet demand. While our food supplies have remained constant the demand has shot up in a scary way.
“We have had nearly double the amount of groups coming to us asking for support,” he explained.
Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, said: “Congratulations to Botley Community Kitchen, Seacourt Bridge and Oxford food Hub for getting this initiative up and running.
“It is sad that in a cost-of-living crisis it is needed but it is also amazing that out community always sets up to the plate.
“Following Thursday’s depressing budget I will continue to press the Government for more initiatives to keep people warm and fed. Meanwhile, I encourage as many people to come and use this as feel able.”
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This story was written by Sophie Perry. She joined the team in 2021 as a digital reporter.
You can get in touch with her by emailing: sophie.perry@newsquest.co.uk
Follow her on Twitter @itssophieperry
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