Local food and the Solar Kitchen

Local food and the Solar Kitchen

The Solar Kitchen has been purchasing locally-grown farm-produce from Auroville farmers since it became operational. In fact, it is by far their biggest customer and has always prioritized the use of locally grown produce. However, there are some challenges in what it can do.

Every week, the Foodlink informs the Solar Kitchen on Wednesday what produce the farmers can supply the following week. But a third of the predicted produce is delivered by Foodlink at very short notice and in much less quantity than promised, and unpredicted produce is also offered frequently at very short notice. This means that the Solar Kitchen has to find alternative supplies very quickly, or has to reshuffle the menu at very short notice. While we understand that it is not always easy for the farmers to control supply, this situation is difficult and highly time-consuming.

In addition, while farmers like the Solar Kitchen take all their produce on a daily basis, this is not feasible as sometimes there is a glut of a particular produce in peak season, and at other times – sometimes at the same time – there are far fewer people dining at the Solar Kitchen. Moreover, people who eat at the Solar Kitchen have diverse food preferences and the Solar Kitchen Team strives hard to provide a balanced meal that caters to this diversity. The Solar Kitchen cannot take everything that the farmers can supply on a particular day because not all of it can be used in the menu of that day.

Many years back, when the Solar Kitchen used to deal directly with the farmers, there used to be more give and take over pricing. If there was a glut of a particular produce, the Solar Kitchen used to take as much as possible and the farmers used to offer the produce at a reduced rate. Moreover, farmers used to regularly donate excess produce. However, with the advent of Foodlink, this harmonious way of working has been lost and the dealing between Solar Kitchen and Foodlink has become more of a business transaction. For example, even when there was a glut of a fruit or vegetable, Foodlink continued to charge the same prices.

Only after prolonged discussions since the beginning of April 2014 did Foodlink promise to give reduced rates during “peak-seasons” for certain produce. However, it still does not offer a bulk purchasing rate to the Solar Kitchen, even though the Solar Kitchen purchases all produce in large quantities.

Solar Kitchen has its own challenges to tackle and has to carefully balance a number of priorities to provide nutritious food to the community every day of the week, all the year round.