Mobile kitchen educates children on reducing waste

Once a month, the Cantina association sets up its mobile kitchen in the city center for free workshops open to families. Around its yellow trailer, recovered vegetables become recipes to share, in a public space sometimes marked by drug trafficking.

Children engage in cooking workshops

Last Wednesday, a dozen children from the neighborhood prepared vegetable pancakes with Cantina, a Marseille-based association fighting food waste. On the workbench, carrots, zucchini, leeks, and cabbages wait to be peeled, grated, and cooked. All have been recovered from the National Interest Market of Arnavaux (MIN).

Public space transformed by community events

The scene contrasts with the image usually associated with this square in the center of Marseille, at Belsunce. Known for drug dealing and insecurity, the Louise-Michel square hosted this afternoon activities offered by associations. An event led by the Noailles-Belsunce Quarter Management, which aims to reinvest the area by bringing back activities and residents.

Mobile kitchen design and operation

Pulled by an electric bike, Cantina's kitchen has been touring Marseille for about two years, at events organized in public spaces. On the trailer, everything has its place: a large gas cooking plate on the side, a faucet in the center, and storage for utensils underneath.

Involving parents in the process

Salomé Delmotte, the association's animation manager, chose to prepare yachaejeon, "a simple Korean pancake recipe that does not require milk or eggs," she explains. It is well suited for an event where children come and go: "It also allows for easy task distribution. If a child stops, it does not jeopardize the preparation."

Future plans for a permanent location

Alongside these mobile workshops, Cantina is establishing itself in a location on the Joliette street. Since September, the association has had a kitchen, a cold room, and offices there. The first workshop was held at the end of the month.

Redistributing food to local organizations

Each month, about six tons of fruits and vegetables are thus redistributed to associations. Among them, La Bonne Adresse, which, like the other beneficiary organizations, cooks them or gives them to the people it supports.