While many people in Serbia do not have money for regular meals, a huge amount of food is wasted every day. Voluntary organizations such as "Solidarity Kitchen" help citizens to eat, but administrative obstacles prevent larger food donations
According to research by the Center for Environmental Improvement in Serbia, daily throw about 2000 tons of all food in the world is wasted, mostly bread, meat and milk. At least fruits and vegetables. U analysis states that food is mostly thrown away because it spoils or is forgotten in the fridge and freezer.
On the other hand, 10 times less is donated, which is insufficient for all those who need a free meal.
Since April 2020, the "Solidarity Kitchen" organization has been handing out free meals every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 16 p.m. at the Wolf Monument. No document is required to collect food. Only physical presence and compliance with the rules: one meal - one person.
Ljiljana Đorđević, who describes herself as a professor who came from America, states that she has been coming for free meals since August.
"I'm here because I'm hungry and because I don't have any." I've been coming here since this summer. I have no money, all my neighbors robbed me, and I came here", she says.
When asked if this meal is enough for her, Ljiljana says that it is not, but that she divides it in half, so practically the portion comes to her as two meals.
He combines the food shared by the "Solidarity Kitchen" with the food he receives in the Karaburma soup kitchen organized by the Religious Charitable Guardianship, a humanitarian organization within the Serbian Orthodox Church.
"In the folk kitchen in Karaburma, they share food five days a week, and here three, so I combine them." What I eat is not enough, but I don't have enough for more," she says.
He does not want to be photographed, and neither do the others present. Horski replied that they would not like their picture to appear "in the newspapers".
"Don't take pictures." What should you paint while I'm waiting on the street for food", says one of the citizens standing in line for a hot meal.
"I eat right away, where can I wear it, when I don't have a house"
At the end of the line, which starts to form at 15 p.m., stands pensioner Ljubiša.
He says that he does not receive a pension, but church tax, about 20.000 dinars, which is not enough for him to survive from first to first.
"I'm hungry, that's why I'm here." And they share it with everyone, they don't make a difference. I am in the back, because they are pushing forward, as if someone is going to steal from them. And I've been coming here for about half a year, and it's never happened that there isn't any, that they don't hand out to someone who shows up. Only if it disappears immediately, we have to wait for a new tour, five to ten minutes", says Ljubiša.
When he heard that peas were on the daily menu, he commented that they haven't made beans in a long time, because he doesn't really like peas, but since he doesn't have anything else - he'll take what's offered.
"Like most, I also go to the church kitchen, but it's different there." Here, everything is better packaged, everything is hygienic, they spray your hands with something, they give you plastic spoons and forks", says Ljubiša.
When asked whether he eats the meal he gets here right away or takes it home packaged like that, he answers: "I'll eat it right away, where should I take it, when I don't have a house"!
And indeed, many users of the "Solidarity Kitchen" as soon as they receive a meal go to the first free bench in the park near the Wolf Monument, officially named Cyril and Methodius Park, and eat what is offered. The park then turns into an open-air canteen.
On Sunday, October 27, the menu included peas, a few slices of bread, strudel, and lemonade, which was distributed a week away from where the meals were received.
Two hundred portions, as many as were distributed, began to be made from early morning.
Photo: Time
Photo: Time
Cooking from eight o'clock, sharing meals from 16 o'clock
The food is prepared from eight in the morning, says Katarina Marinković, a volunteer of "Solidarity Kitchen".
After that, the packing starts. A coordinated team of ten volunteers participates in this process, and very quickly the food from the large cauldrons in which the peas were cooked was in plastic bowls, packed and ready to be distributed to the users.
After a short cooling, it is packed and, together with utensils, chemical disinfectants, lemonade and a pack of strudels, driven to the location near Vuk, where another team of volunteers is ready to distribute meals.
The volunteers are very coordinated and easily solve problems with those who make "problems". They insist on forming a line, so that time is not wasted and everyone gets to the meal as quickly as possible.
When the food arrives, the push starts, but the volunteers repeat that everyone must line up and move away. The users retreat, and the distribution of food begins according to the established system.
In front of the citizens at the beginning of the line stands a volunteer with a disinfectant, behind him another handing out utensils, the meal is taken on a small table. Thus, 200 meals were distributed in half an hour. There were also those who were late, but did not run out of portions.
Why is so much wasted food that is necessary for others?
The main problem in solving the paradox that between 770.000 and 900.000 tons of food is thrown away in Serbia every year, while on the other hand there is a large number of citizens who cannot afford a meal, is the tax on donated food, so all those who have excess food decide to everything that their predecessors moved to the waste, before giving it away.
As "Vreme" already wrote, the economic calculation, based on the analysis from 2020, shows that by reducing the VAT, the income in the state coffers would decrease by about 25 million dinars, but in that way the value of donated food would increase by about 160 million dinars.
The work of the kitchen is financed exclusively by donations from individuals
In "Solidarity Kitchen", they explain that the food they share is financed exclusively through donations from individuals, that they do not cooperate with state institutions, do not apply for projects, nor do they take money from corporations.
"On a monthly basis, it takes about 3000 euros to prepare a meal, and sometimes a little more - because we often organize an event where we cook food and socialize together with people who come to the 'Solidarity Kitchen' point." We also occasionally distribute hygiene packages. "There was almost a fire on Bežanijska kosa, so we helped the affected families, so sometimes we have more expenses," Katarina Marinković points out.
Since everyone in the organization works on a voluntary basis, so they contribute in relation to how much time they can allocate, they have a large number of activists, and the duties are divided into work groups, where it is important that the organizational structure does not depend on individuals, but that the work is well distributed.
"It is important to us that everyone can participate as much as they can. So there are those who cook once every two or three months, and there are those who do it more often. This is also the attitude towards donations, since we do not depend on large donors, but on a wider network of solidarity," concludes Marinković.
They plan to continue their work in the coming period as well, and they are sustained by solidarity, which is why their slogan reads "Solidarity, not charity".
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