Ladles of Love is going beyond just feeding those in need to also feeding the soil which grows food for people in need; the new initiative is set to take Cape Town by storm.
Cape Town, South Africa (10 May 2022) – Ladles of Love has fed millions of South Africans and will continue to do so for years to come, but they are shifting part of the organisation to also help feed the soil.
Ladles of Love launched a new programme that will create a circular economy within the organisation. By collecting food waste from supporters, turning it into compost, and using that to grow nutritious foods that will be cooked into wholesome meals for people in need.
In July 2014, Danny Diliberto, with the help of a chef and some volunteers, started cooking pots of soup every Tuesday from the restaurant he co-founded, Doppio Zero in St Georges Mall.
Over the next five years, the organisation grew. With the help of schools and other soup kitchens, food would be served four times a week in the city centre. By March 2020, Ladles would be serving about 14,000 meals a month. And then Covid-19 hit.
The organisation ramped up efforts to help feed as many people as possible. The pandemic left thousands of people without food. Ladles of Love started collecting food for soup kitchens, making sandwiches and breaking world records for canned food.
The organisation wanted to create a lasting impact and founded the Ladles of Love “Feed The Soil” programme. The Feed The Soil programme is an urban farming initiative to help farmers grow better produce. The programme aims to create healthy compost from food waste collected from the public.
Ladles of Love supply a food waste kit that is then handed over once full. The food waste is converted into compost which is then used to nourish the soil of community and soup kitchen gardens. These gardens play a vital role in adding wholesome fresh ingredients back into the soup kitchens.
“The new soil will then be used to our network of urban farms to help grow better organic produce for their local soup kitchens and markets! As a result, all will have access to healthy food while becoming self-sufficient and avoiding food shortages.
There are many sustainable living charities around the Western Cape and we hope to expand our cause through this programme.”
The process is simple.
- Purchase your Feed the Soil eco-waste kit here.
- Start collecting your food waste at home using your kit.
- When your food waste storage bin is full, meet Danny and the team at the special weekly meeting point in your area to drop off your full bin and swap it for a clean, empty one.
The drop off day is also a fun market day that you can use to purchase fresh vegetables that are grown in the very compost you are helping to create.
You can find out more about this initiative via the website here.
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