Our story It began in a foreign country in Western Europe. It was the summer of 2018. We made a move and later, another decision that would change our lives f o r e v e r. The city was Berlin. The year was 2017, in the … Read more...
Ask and you’re given – mutual aid at its best
Do you need anything? Just ask. Mutual aid is based on asking and helping each other’s goals come true! Get to know more about it below.
As you know, for the past four months, we have been making vegan sandwiches for those in need. We reached out to Food Not Bombs Toronto to offer some saved food items. Then we got to talking with a volunteer from there and he introduced us to mutual aid. A term we knew about but didn’t think of it so much before. Mutual aid is perhaps new to many therefore needs a wider introduction.
In organization theory, mutual aid is a voluntary reciprocal exchange of resources and services for mutual benefit. Mutual aid projects are a form of political participation in which people take responsibility for caring for one another and changing political conditions.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Anyway, besides that, he told that FNB is looking for people who would love to take over the sandwich making. As the other team was just ending their work. We were like, okay, but 100 sandwiches sound like a big deal. Making food for so many people wasn’t definitely a skill in our CV’s. But we thought that perhaps this is how we can introduce veganism to a wider audience. To show that vegan food is beautiful and nutritious.
Aiming for the best
Ever since we started with our task of making sandwiches we strived for the best. As vegans, we love and appreciate food. For a couple of years, we have also been fighting for food waste. What a great moment for us – save food and feed people! Also since we are not into consumerism and are frugal, we wanted since the beginning to keep the costs for Food Not Bombs as low as possible.
So far we have offered sandwiches made of different kinds of beans, such as black, white and kidney beans and our favourites, chickpeas. Few times we have been experimenting with wonderful results with vegan eggplant bacon. With mayo, tomato, and fresh lettuce leaf, this has proved to be a hit. At least amongst us two 🙂 One time we were lucky to score 10 packages of Ives gluten-free burgers. We smeared them in barbecue sauce and grilled them in the oven, these burgers were a hit among the receiving end.
Mutual aid started to work little by little, as we received food from different people. Many times people just gave away what they didn’t need, and we were able to put this to work while making sandwich fillings. Awesome! We didn’t think that there is so much free food to save if you just happen to be at the right place at the right time.
Though we like what we are doing, we also like to excite ourselves during this process. So we are trying to come up with new ideas and offer a more varied sandwich selection. But fabricated vegan products are quite expensive, so we have been mostly using vegetables and beans for delivering healthy sandwiches.
Would you be able to donate?
At the end of the last year, I really started to think about what I could do to make these sandwiches better. I knew that there had to be a way. Perhaps reaching out to vegan companies would bring some results. Though I wasn’t really sold on that idea, I decided to give mutual aid a chance and see what it may bring.
I contacted more than twenty companies. Some small local companies and some huge brands from the United States. When writing to them I didn’t think that they will take a step. As the companies have branches in Canada as well and perhaps even in Toronto, so it would be easier to communicate and deliver.
Anyway, we got back, I think around 6 replies. Guess what, responses came mostly from larger companies. This was really surprising, as I have been doing cold e-mailing before and they usually never get back. Wow, so I actually had some leads I could tie down to deals. My heart was full of joy and happiness. Mostly I was glad that people cared and gave mutual aid a chance. Even if it was just a promise to donate something in the future.
Yes, please! I want to Follow Your Heart!
One responder really stood out from the rest, as they were ready for action. The person was representing the company Follow Your Heart. If you are a vegan you are most likely familiar with their famous vegenaise. And perhaps you know their variety of vegan cheeses.
The representative of FYH was really supportive of what we are doing and offered their contribution to make better vegan sandwiches. They were all business when they asked for our mailing address. On Friday UPS delivered a 45 lbs box for our sandwich making. Just on time for our Saturday preparations.
When we opened the box, we were blown away – so many slices of cheese and vegan mayo! Yay, looks like we are on for grilled cheese sandwiches. And for many more ihttps://followyourheart.com/products/avocado-oil/n the future!
Thank you, mutual aid!
On Thursday I reached out to community members near us and a couple of friends. I contacted people from whom I have received free items or delivered similar things to them. Or people who have shared their surplus food with us. We have to talk later about the idea of the Buy Nothing Project, which practicing mutual aid actively.
Anyway, many didn’t have an electric griddle to lend, but our two friends, Ian and Maimu had. We were really happy and were hoping to make these sandwiches with two machines. Ian was even so kind to drop his griddle off. And I bought Maimu’s from her nearby porch.
We had an electric griddle for 8 sandwiches and an electric pan for 4. We were on!
Conclusion
The idea of this article was to give you a little idea of what mutual aid is. Encourage you to ask for what you need and be grateful for what you have.
From this article, many other subjects were hatches, which we will introduce to you in the near future. Such as the idea of the Buy Nothing Project, how to make perfect grilled sandwiches, and introduce mostly on photos how a large company can be environmentally friendly and make a change in people’s lives.
Community fridge – new phenomena on the streets
During tiring times, communities have come together. Read below how the community fridge is helping to fill the gap while offering free food for people in need.
We appreciate food, hate food waste, and work every day to save food, share food, and enjoy food. As a society, we waste so much food every day – approximately 1/3 of the food will end up in the garbage bins. Since we love the environment and try to consume as little as possible, this is a really hot subject for us.
Though we have close connections with the European way of saving and sharing food – Foodsharing, the more common term in Northern America is community fridge, a new phenomenon that should be the norm in every community.
What is a community fridge aka freedge?
A Community Fridge is a refrigerator located in a public space. The fridges, sometimes called “freedges” are a type of mutual aid project. They help to share food within a community. Some Community Fridges also have an associated area for non-perishable food.
Source: wikipedia.org
So basically, it is a fridge in a public space, which gets filled by anybody and can be emptied by anybody (you what you need, leave what you don’t). The food is always free. There is always so much leftover food. These fridges offer a convenient way to store and share surplus food.
Sometimes, such fridges are accompanied by little pantries, which hold the space for food items, which do not need refrigeration. So in a way, community fridges are like little free stores offering a variety of food; except that you never know what you’ll get at the freedges!
Wow, that sounds fun – how can I start a freedge?
Luckily as with most wonderful things, you can educate yourself using the world wide web. Freedges are connected to a worldwide network offering information, support, and media for all community fridge related questions. Please find the link to the Freedge Network at the end of this article.
You may already have a fridge or two in your city, town, or neighbourhood. Now you just have to fill it with food or take food if there is a need. Leaving food in the fridges is not charity. Food is a basic human need. And if our governments fail us, then joining our forces for mutual aid is the only way to go.
The first and most important thing is that you need a small group of like-minded people who believe in saving food and sharing it with others. This is a good start if you can communicate with a small group and set your goals and tasks. Finding a location for the fridge is a very tiring process. Especially when reaching out to businesses and asking permission for the fridge at their storefront. If that doesn’t work out, try private locations. All you need is a spot for the fridge. The shed to protect it from weather, and electricity to keep it working.
When you have found a spot for your community fridge, then it is time to explore more about the options of how to fill the fridge on a regular basis. Visit your local bakery, café, and speak to the manager at your home grocery store and inquire about their surplus food. Most of the time it just goes to garbage or organic recycle bins, but instead, it should reach people. This is where we all can step in. Reach out and make a change.
No good deed goes unpunished
The idea to write this article came because of saddening news. As one of the first community fridges in Toronto was shut down by city officers at the end of November 2020. It was closed because in the city official’s opinion that it was abandoned therefore posed a threat to children, who may lock themselves inside of it…
Jalil Bokhari, founder and community organizer of Community Fridges Toronto shared a post about it on their Instagram feed. And it went viral – 5000 likes in a day! Obviously, one little fridge touched so many people. It offered food to hundreds and hundreds of people in its short four-month life-span. Luckily, the Toronto Community Fridge has four other fridges up and running. But they need desperately all the support they can get. Including filling with food, maintenance, and winterizing. Communities can together to help with all that.
CBC wrote an article about Toronto city’s shameless decision to close the fridge down. In there: “Bokhari said the city’s order is upsetting because the fridge was a source of “fresh, good looking food” for many people in Parkdale and food insecurity is an issue in the neighborhood. The city also failed to help provide a solution, he added.”
It is heartless that the government body, elected to support and help us, makes a decision to close a community initiative that helps them take care of its most vulnerable and forgotten citizens. This being said, it is more of a reason to start even more fridges everywhere! Share the food, spread the love, and keep our tummies full. All of us. Not just those with money to buy all they need and throw away long before the food touches their plates…
Conclusion
With winter is around the corner in the northern hemisphere, and as times are hard for many, it is the right time for people to come together to start community fridges and pantries all over the world. Find a group of like-minded people, a place for a fridge, and plan to build a protective shed around the fridge. When this is all done, the rest will follow. Your community will come together and the fridge will make many people sustained and happy.
Reference and links:
Mould on food: meh or no way!
Your favourite pastry may grow mould overnight. Should you trash it or should you eat it? Mould on food – all you need to know!
I remember my first encounter with mould on food when I was making buttered bread during my early years. When I took the bread out from the bread closet, it was half-covered with a grayish, teal furry looking mould. I learned that was bad and not good to eat, even if the end of the bread is okay.
As I grew older, I saw mould sometimes on top or on the sides of the home-made preserve jars, my mom or grandmother had made. Mom cleaned it thoroughly and the jam always tasted good. Now, juices tend to have a bit of a funky taste. Then later I saw it on cottage cheese, milk, cheese, and nuts. I have heard so many different opinions about mould, so I finally decided to look up all there is to know about it on food.
Why is it important to talk about mould?
Because of misknowledge, we may waste food that is still edible to eat. Wasted food means wasted money, more garbage, and contributing more climate change, as food waste is considered to be one of the most heated environmental problems. If you waste food, it means that you may have wasted some of your next meal. Each bite you eat is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. Think of growing, processing, packaging and transporting the food we eat. All this contributes to climate change. Discarded food will rot and release more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
“Fruit always starts to rot from the inside“
I heard this from a woman with whom we were circled around to get food from Foodsharing in Berlin. I just got an apple and it had a soft brown mouldy spot. She said I should not eat it. It got me thinking. Would the same apply to bread, which is covered with small mouldy spots? Would it be okay just to cut the bad parts off and then eat it?
The little colourful spots you see on food is just the mould on the surface. These spores allow the mould to reproduce. It works really similar to plants – it has roots below the surface, which travel deep into the food. It really doesn’t help just to remove the spots covering the bread. If you do that and eat it, you will consume some mouthfuls of fungus nevertheless. This wouldn’t be life-threatening, but what one should keep in mind is that foods that are mouldy may also have invisible bacteria growing along with the mould.
Luckily most moulds are harmless, but unfortunately, some are dangerous. Mycotoxins are the poisonous ones. They are substances produced by certain ones found primarily in grain and nut crops. But they are also in celery, grape juice, apples, and other produce. These substances are often contained in and around the threads that burrow into the food and can cause allergic reactions or respiratory problems.
Some mould is good for you!
I guess you know that some moulds are used to make certain kinds of cheeses and can be on the surface of cheese or be developed internally. This is all good. For example, the blue-veined cheese such as Roquefort, blue, Gorgonzola, and Stilton are created by the introduction of P. roqueforti or Penicillium roqueforti spores. Brie and Camembert have white surface moulds. Other cheeses have both an internal and a surface mould. These are used to manufacture these cheeses are safe to eat.
As a vegan, I do not know much about it anymore. I haven’t had any vegan cheese go mouldy on me. Not sure if that will ever happen to me. 😀
Help – moldy food!
Mould grows out of spores that are always in the air. Mould spores are not harmful in the air, but when they land on a surface, they start searching for nutrients and water. So food serves as the perfect environment for mould to grow – once it starts growing, it usually will spread quickly.
If there is some mould on your food – don’t panic yet. Read the tips below. They will help you to figure out, which foods are not good to eat, when they are mouldy and which are good to go. You just have to cut the mouldy part off. Exciting!
THROW THESE OUT if you see mold:
- Luncheon meats, bacon, or hot dogs, cooked leftover meat and poultry
- Cooked casseroles
- Cooked grain and pasta
- Soft cheese (i.e. cottage, cream cheese, Neufchatel, chevre, Bel Paese, etc.)
- Crumbled, shredded, and sliced cheeses (all types)
- Yogurt and sour cream
- Peanut butter
- Legumes
- Nuts
- Bread and baked goods
- Jams and jellies*
- Cheese made with mold (such as Roquefort, blue, Gorgonzola, Stilton, Brie, Camembert)
*The mould in jams and jellied could be producing a mycotoxin. Microbiologists recommend against scooping out the mould and using the remaining condiment. I guess my grandmother and mother have been wrong all this time. :O
EAT THESE, after cutting off the mold
- Hard salami and dry-cured country hams (Eat them. Scrub mould off the surface. It is normal for these shelf-stable products to have surface mould.)
- Firm fruits and vegetables (such as cabbage, bell peppers, carrots, etc.), as well as hard cheeses, are OK to eat if you remove the mould. Cut off at least 2,5 cm (1 inch) round and below the mould spot. Keep the knife out of the mould itself so it will not cross-contaminate other parts of the produce.
Remember while you’re removing mould, etc. that you should be washing your hands and food prep surfaces often.
How can I prevent mould from forming?
Refrigerate, refrigerate, refrigerate. This is the best advice coming from somebody who doesn’t even own a fridge 🙂 But I mean colder temperatures, the better, so your food doesn’t start going mouldy. Its growth is encouraged by warm and humid conditions. Be aware though, that they can also grow in the refrigerator too, just more slowly (think of yogurt and milk). When the mould spores dry, they float through the air and find conditions in which to grow some more mouldy friends.
Keep your fridge clean to avoid more food from getting spoilt and decrease food waste. And if possible keep the humidity at home 40 percent, examining food for mould before you buy it, purchasing food in small amounts so mould doesn’t have time to grow, covering food with plastic wrap, and eating leftovers within three to four days.
Sounds pretty easy, uh?
The best is not to let your food go to that state in the first place – consume it when it is fresh and do not horde food!
I have been eating mouldy bread, the same way I described above – discarding those little spots – and I am still here. After knowing that it is not only on the surface but also inside of the bread, it doesn’t make me want to eat mouldy bread anymore.
And if you are wondering what a low mould diet is, check out Balanced-healtcare.com article to find out more.
When was the last time you found mouldy food at home?
Note: Mould/Mold can be used interchangeably. Mould, as in with the ‘U’ is the Canadian and British spelling while omitting the ‘U’ as in Mold, is the American way.
References:
How many times do you think the ‘mould’ was used in this article?
Have you ever cleaned off the mouldy part of a food item then eaten the rest?