Books recipes and harvest party

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Learning from different cultures through exchanging of recipies.

“The person interviewed has emphasised the need for greater economic contribution and more technical personnel for a more effective development of the different workshops.”

Description of the activity

This activity has the purpose of sharing different kinds of cooking all prepared with the vegetables obtained in the garden and the edition of a recipe book.

Migrants have the chance to show the rest of the gardeners the typical food of their countries, at the same time they can learn more about typical Spanish dishes.

It ends with a harvest festival in which the different dishes of the recipe book are shared and tasted.

In this activity only the gardeners can present a recipe, but the harvest party is open to anybody who wants to know more about the dishes and the urban gardens.

Last year, more than 200 people participated in the harvest festival where migrants can meet other people.

A cultural exchange is evident thanks to the work of the social promoters, who perform different activities such as the exhibition of traditional Cantabrian games or the tasting of the vegetables analysing their particularities (flavour, texture, acidity) and exchanging seedlings and seeds to be planted next year.

Competences

In order to develop this activity, we need the gardeners to be motivated and feel the need to share not only the culinary knowledge but also the vegetables collected by themselves.

It is important to highlight that all events have been a huge success, so that the motivation of users is strong.

The migrant gardeners have total freedom to express themselves “culinary speaking”, showing others what and how different vegetables are prepared in their countries.

As previously mentioned, the cultural promoters hired by the city council facilitate the connection between the gardeners, although they themselves participate actively in the activity and there are no major problems of interrelation.

For all this, skills such as the organisational capacity, the ability to motivate and push gardeners to participate and the ability to organise workshops or contests to make the event fun and different each year. They use social networks to invite neighbours and disseminate the news and these are the skills that organisers have to manage and are people with these skills are invited to organise an activities like this.

Steps for the implementation of the activity

The first step is to inform people through posters and within the gardens about the recipe book and the sharing in an event at least one month earlier, which takes place in an extensive park in Santander called Finca Altamira which also has urban gardens.

The registration period for all gardeners who wish to participate opens. The last time they registered around 50 people.

The technicians and social facilitators are in charge of planning and preparing everything necessary.

They decide a place where the party will be, bring tables and chairs, prepare a place where the choir will perform, contact the bar for drinks and bread which is offered by the municipality of Santander

The recipe book is edited and printed to provide later a copy to all participants.

Materials and methods

Infrastructure:
This activity takes place inside an open-air park, so a specific space isn´t necessary. Tables and some chairs are provided by the city council of Santander.

Materials and human resources:
Most of the material resources are again provided by the city hall: the technicians are city council staff, and the chairs and tables are provided by a municipal social centre. The number of technicians involved in this activity is at least 2 but they could be 6 persons in order to provide and organise different activities during the event.

Time/Workload:
The edition of the recipe book and the harvest festival takes place annually, usually in the month of August. It took one month to prepare the book and the party.

Costs:
The technician who attended us was unaware of the economic cost of this activity, since it is the responsibility of the municipality of Santander.

Learning outcomes for the participants

Thanks to this type of projects, migrants can expand their social circle and promote their cultures.

In addition, the Spanish gardeners have the opportunity to open their minds and learn about new cultures and people.

In summary, multicultural enrichment and the promotion of tolerance are present in these activities.

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