Henry Lamotte Food meets Bremer Suppenengel
Anti-food waste and working together: We regularly donate unused food and help to provide food for the homeless and needy in Bremen.
Now that the boards we work with are closed due to Covid-19, the sample tins are piling up in the warehouse again. However, we also want to give a purpose to the food that we cannot sell and use and, through a contact from the Bremen Junior Chamber of Commerce, we found an organization, the Bremer Suppenengeln, that is grateful for any support in kind. The Bremen Soup Angels have been organizing a mobile food supply for the homeless and needy in Bremen for over 20 years. To get a better picture of the facility, I wanted to support it for a day. Yannik Mainzer, currently a trainee at FOE, came along.
Our day started at 07:30 at triangle 3 to organize the car keys for the pool car. After a fortunately negative rapid Covid test, we were given our first task by chef Enzo: plucking kale! The soup angels had received the fresh kale from a nursery in Blockland, which was no longer able to sell it. So Yannik and I plucked the kale into small pieces and put them in freezer bags for later. At 10:00 a.m., it was time for the breakfast break, during which the 20 or so helpers and employees ate their breakfast. The soup angels have a drinks corner with coffee, tea, water and sandwiches. Most of the employees are volunteers who regularly help in the kitchen, with filling or distributing the food. There are three permanent employees: the chef Enzo, a driver and the manager. There are also several employees who are referred to the soup angels via the job center.
After our break, we continued with the kale until our meal for the day was ready: pasta with tomato sauce and meat. Chef Enzo was particularly pleased with our products and thanked us very much for the tins. Half of the products had already been used in pasta with tuna, a Mediterranean pan and a paella. In today’s hot meal, we also used our tomato paste, which added the finishing touch to the pasta ? Normally, the soup angels would distribute these noodles directly to people in need, but due to the current situation, to-go packaging must now be used. So Yannik and I helped to package the pasta accordingly. This was followed by the next break, which consisted of nice and exciting conversations and coffee. At a quarter to one we drove to the station where we were to take part in the distribution. A row of tables was set up next to the Überseemuseum and green crates with dairy products, fruit, vegetables, bread, cakes and hot food were placed on them. Each customer, as the needy are called by the soup angels, can then take one item from the boxes. These products come from various supermarkets in Bremen, for example.
Our working day ended with the dismantling of the stand and the farewell from Waltraut and Sascha, who had accompanied us through our working day. Of course, we took a photo together and thanked them for the exciting day.
