The co-financing by GBH of a van intended to offer itinerant cooking workshops is part of a solidarity nutrition prevention project. A new stage in the partnership established between GBH and the Mascarene food bank.
The van will be used for traveling cooking workshops that the Mascarene food bank plans to organize to promote a balanced diet among disadvantaged populations.. Intended for people with severe dietary difficulties, This project was made possible thanks to the support of several partners, dont GBH. The sponsorship of the Bernard Hayot group covers 50% of the cost of the van, which also benefits from assistance from the Department.. Equipped with a kitchen, the van should begin its tours in the gaps and neighborhoods from June. A new action to the assets of GBH which had made known, a few months ago, its partnership with overseas food banks for the delivery of containers of food stocks. In 2022, this delivery made it possible to deliver to Reunion some 40 tonnes of food products intended for free distribution. GBH wanted to extend this contribution by participating in the nutrition prevention action of traveling cooking workshops.
A response to the food emergency and insecurity
At the origin of this project, a survey by the Reunion food bank among the public using food aid. Carried out in December 2022, this highlighted the food support needs of a growing number of people, but also the health problems caused by an unbalanced diet. A situation that has since been made worse by rising inflation. Hence the desire of the Mascarene food bank to act on this level too. “More than half of our audience has given up on purchasing certain products, such as fruits and vegetables and dairy products, and redirects towards lower quality products, but cheaper”, observed Bruno Prochassen, president of the Macareignes food bank presenting the food truck project. Once equipped, this vehicle will be added to the fruit and vegetable processing unit set up with the help of the chamber of agriculture at the headquarters of the food bank in Montvert-les-Bas and the launch of a mobile social grocery store.
Prevention and screening of chronic diseases
How to cook and eat healthier with products from the food stocks available at the bank ? The traveling cooking workshops project has an educational purpose on the best ways to cook the products distributed, some of which are not part of the usual diet of Reunion Islanders. Aiming to promote a better nutritional balance, the project also involves AURAR which will involve its Karavan Odhir, vehicle equipped for the prevention and screening of chronic diseases (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, kidney failure). The Odhir Karavan will move, when possible, at the same time as the food bank's food truck.
GBH, partner of a traveling cooking workshop project
Intended for people with severe food difficulties, This project was made possible thanks to the support of several partners, including the Department. The sponsorship of the Bernard Hayot group covers 50% of the investment in the van, which will be equipped with a kitchen. Partners of overseas food banks for the delivery of containers since 2022, GBH wanted to extend this contribution by participating in this nutrition prevention action. A survey by the Reunion food bank, carried out in December 2022, highlighted the use of food aid by a growing number of people, as well as expectations for products promoting a better balanced diet. Hence the project of traveling cooking workshops with an educational vocation on the best ways to cook the products distributed. This project also involves AURAR which will involve its Karavan Odhir, vehicle equipped for the prevention and screening of chronic diseases (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, kidney failure), which will be able to travel at the same time as the food bank's food truck. In total, GBH's contribution combined with donations from its Carrefour and Danone subsidiaries is equivalent to more than one million meals distributed in Guadeloupe, Martinique and Reunion.
A long-term partnership
In total, GBH's contribution combined with donations from its Carrefour and Danone subsidiaries corresponds, in four years, more than a million meals distributed in Reunion, 2,7 million adding Guadeloupe and Martinique. A total of 555 tonnes of goods were distributed between the three islands, including 241 tonnes in Reunion, the 40 tons of freight included. These figures were provided by Michel Lapeyre, Managing Director Africa–Middle East–Maghreb–Indian Ocean GBH. “We have found solutions to the problems you are facing”, underlined Michel Lapeyre, recalling GBH's desire to get involved here in a long-term partnership, as it also does in the field of education and training (see Leader Meeting No. 219, December 2022). “You can always count on us”, said Rodolphe Hayot, general manager of GBH, by inaugurating the new vehicle of the Mascarene food bank.
