Food for people

As an international volunteer, well, actually as a foreigner, I sometimes think: oh, that’s something absolutely different from my country! And since I’m doing my voluntary service in Germany, I think to myself: oh, that’s very German! Here’s why I’m partially wrong in my fast-made conclusion.

Here in Leipzig in the so called alternative scene there are a lot of unusual initiatives and events, which are, as far as I can see it, absolutely unknown (and sometimes considered to be “out of place” or dangerous) for the rest of the city inhabitants. For example, Volksküche (not the restaurant in Saxony-Anhalt you can find on the internet) that originates from the Food Not Bombs movement, I suppose. The information is spread via e-mail and from person to person, there’s a webpage to find out about the events and places but it’s out of date, and there’s never a facebook event. These activities are not aimed at making big profit, but promoting ideas of solidarity within a group. Not being financially supported, except donations, people involved in them don’t make broad advertisement. Thus, many people are automatically excluded from this part of life, and also European volunteers unless they speak good German OR have already friends or acquaintances in “the scene”. I was lucky enough to be as a volunteer in a very informal organization that has direct connections to the “underground” culture and people.

On the day of the event activists get together at someone’s place that would usually be a house project (see my short intro into house projects: https://www.youthreporter.eu/de/beitrag/class-struggle-among-friends.12243/#.VzF8dWOKS6s).

They get food from local farmers, and that’s how they support the idea of struggling against big heartless corporations and anonymity among neighbours.

Volksküche is always vegan, and that’s to raise the awareness towards cruelty in meat and milk products mass industry.

They cook together and then share the meal with visitors, mostly also people from the scene but not only. Sometimes musicians support the action, or people play table games. The atmosphere can be full of feeling of solidarity and togetherness that occurs among people without particular intention. And that’s how I find it different from many commercialized events that take part in public places and are aimed at either making profit or broadcasting ideas that someone has invested into.

The only question that I have left is, how people like European volunteers could access such spheres of life in their host countries. I find it an important experience to have, even when it’s difficult to comprehend, namely: how such very different lifestyles can coexist within one town. To experience that could be a remedy agains a so called „single story“ (here I’d refer to the ideas that arise particulartly in the TED Talks video by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie).