Gastronomy becomes a tool for social transformation on the outskirts of São Paulo

The affectivity awakened by food goes beyond the aroma and flavor of the food and passes through the hands that conduct the preparations.

Based on this understanding, professor of gastronomy at FMU (Centro Universitário das Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas) Deumas de Oliveira structured the classes of the training course in cooking that he taught to people in situations of social vulnerability in São Paulo.

In addition to washing techniques, handling and storing inputs and preparing hot and cold dishes, the teacher committed himself to generating transformation.

“Gastronomy is just a way for people to meet, but it’s never just about gastronomy. I try to make a rational effort to bring about a key turning point in their lives”, he says.

The initiative was a joint effort between the faculty, the NGO Gerando Falcões and the industrial kitchen Ondina Comida. They were based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which include the eradication of poverty and access to education and decent work.

In addition to the two-month free course, students had access to material for classes, lunch and transportation vouchers to travel to the FMU unit in Liberdade (central region of São Paulo).

For the students, the benefits were essential, as some live in shelters, squats or on the outskirts.

After graduation, which took place on October 31, 2 of the 17 graduates were hired as kitchen assistants by Ondina Comida, under the CLT regime. According to the course coordinator, Sandra Cristina Borges Monici, another 12 will be called by the company in January 2023.

With everyone equally trained, the selection criterion was the proximity of the professional’s home to the unit where the work will be carried out.

One of those who will start next year is Levi Anjos Dutra, 20, a transgender man. When cooking at home for the family during the Covid-19 pandemic, he found the boy who played in the kitchen during childhood.

“Everyone said that I was good, that I cooked well, and then I started to try to improve myself. Today, gastronomy is my dream”, he says.

Before taking the kitchen assistant course, he got certified in baking at Associação Beneficente Vivenda da Criança. Now, the goal is to start working to pay for culinary school and open her own business.

Solo mother, Priscila Monique de Carvalho, 39, saw in the initiative an opportunity to get out of informality. She prepares meals in a nursing home, covering days off, but the salary is not enough to support her family, formed by her and three children.

With the incentive to study and the prospect of getting a job, she had an improvement in the depression she had been experiencing for years. Two months away from having her license signed, she says that the next step will be to help her daughter fulfill her dream of graduating in psychology.

Ondina’s marketing and sustainability director, Leonor Nabais da Furrela D’Andrea says that hiring also brings benefits to the company.

“In the internal board meetings, we identified this lack of manpower. We noticed that there was a very large evasion of people, mainly at the base, because maybe they are not able to see that there is a career in the kitchen”, he says.

Another goal of the initiative is to promote sustainable gastronomy, related to the reduction of impacts caused by food consumption.

In the opinion of FMU’s academic vice-president, Manuel Nabais da Furriela, training complements the faculty’s social role.

“We understand that our gastronomy course, which is so traditional, has to collaborate with society. So we make a bridge between the market’s needs and those people’s need for training”, he says. According to him, a new class should open in March 2023.

Another social work carried out by Professor Deumas is the course on bread and pizza, given at the Centro de Acolhida Campo Limpo (south zone of São Paulo).

Linked to the Social Assistance Reference Center, the space serves 200 homeless men daily. So far there have been 12 graduates, 7 of whom are already working.

The Capim Santo Institute, an initiative created by Morena Leite, chef of the eponymous restaurant, but an independent entity, also sees gastronomy as a tool for social transformation.

This year, 250 people completed the entity’s free training in social and sustainable gastronomy in the Cozinha do Amanhã project.

The actions carried out in the institute’s five units, located in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, are maintained through sponsorships and donations.

In 2023, in the city of São Paulo alone, the institute intends to train 5,000 people, working in partnership with the CEUs (Unified Educational Centers), bodies administered by the city hall.