The Solar Kitchen is beefing up

“A bit rough,” says Harishini about her entry into the world of the Solar Kitchen. “There is a Tamil saying ‘Left in the jungle blindfolded.’ For three of the four executives, Vanitha, Shakti and me, it was like that. There was no handover. The former management team and more than 20 employees had been dismissed and only the 12 Aurovilian ladies of the kitchen team and Manimaran had stayed on. Understandably, they were a bit wary of us and were looking at how we would perform. Till December last year the atmosphere was tense. We struggled with a human resource shortfall - over time we re-hired 10 former employees for maintenance work - and all of us had to get used to one another.”

“It took us months before we knew exactly what we had to do,” adds Vanitha. “We were also unfamiliar with accounts and bookkeeping, so we had to learn on the spot and at times re-create and re-invent the wheel. But the FAMC & Budget Coordination Committee (BCC) has been very helpful throughout. They created a special support group with whom we continue to interact on a monthly basis.” The BCC pays for the maintenances of all Aurovilians working at the Solar Kitchen and provides a budget for all other expenses, with as the result that the Solar Kitchen’s income and expenditure break even most months.

Changing management styles

“One of the main changes is the way we work together,” says Harishini. “We abolished the top-down approach and the work-specialisation in the kitchen. Now we all share the work. We, the executives, help with the food preparation; and we also share the chores, such as the dishwashing, serving and cleaning the kitchen. We meet regularly to discuss ongoing issues and how we can improve. The atmosphere has notably changed. Everybody is on board now, and each of us participates and gives suggestions on how we can improve this community service.”

“Another change was amending the menu,” says Vanitha. “For many years there had been a fixed menu: Monday mashed potatoes, Tuesday noodles and so on. We are tweaking it one bit at a time and also providing vegan and non-vegan and spicy and non spicy dishes. And we went into the dining room to ask the people how they liked the food and what had to be improved. We eat together with the people and get first-hand feedback. Overall, the community members and volunteers are happy: the food we learn is better than before.” “We would like a nutritionist to be a part of our team, to work along with Santé and the Health Center to understand the needs of the community and serve better,” adds Harishini. “Also, we will need to start thinking of providing for special needs, such as gluten or dairy-free meals. But that’s the next step.”

Supplies

The Solar Kitchen gets its Auroville supplies from FoodLink, the Auroville unit which coordinates the supply of the Auroville Farms. “In fact,” says Harishini, “The vision of Auroville is to be fully self- sufficient in terms of food. Auroville farms need to be committed to this goal and as a community kitchen we are fully in line with that vision.” What cannot be grown in Auroville is bought from outside. The ratio is about 50-50, with half of the requirements coming from outside.

“The pricing is something the community will have to look at, as the farm produce from Auroville costs far more than the market price of vegetables,” says Vanitha. “In the market you have negotiating power, but in Auroville, prices are fixed by the Farm Group. Of course, the farms need to manage their income and expenses as much as we do, and it is not that they make fat profits on their sales. Their expenses are higher than those of local farms as they pay fair wages to their farm workers and produce organically grown vegetables, fruits and organic dairy products. But it would be better if the BCC could support the farms and the farms could just give their produce to the Solar Kitchen. That is the system of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. But we are not there yet.”

Farm supplies are sometimes in excess or too little. “For example, last year we received 600 kg of ladies' fingers, which was seven times more than what we could use,” says Harishini. “We can use 90 kg a day and, as the dish is not all that popular, we can only serve it once a week. We can store some produce in our cold rooms, but this was too much and we had to ask the farms to grow less. But we can’t get enough bananas. We need 350-400 bananas every day, but only in a certain period can we give the children Auroville-grown bananas.”

“To solve this problem a pilot project has started,” adds Vanitha. “The Solar Kitchen now works with a new working group called Aruvadai which has made agreements with seven farms to grow the crops we need, and the Solar Kitchen has committed to buy a certain volume. One of the Aruvadai team is visiting the farms regularly to see how the crops develop. The first crops will be harvested in September or October.” [for more on Auroville’s food sector challenges see AVToday #394 of May 2022]

The equipment

Manimaran is in charge of the maintenance of all of the Solar Kitchen’s equipment. The Solar Bowl, from which the Kitchen derives its name, is in need of a big overhaul. “The bowl is 20 years old, mirrors have to be changed and we have to repair the leakage in the coils,” says Manimaran. “But its use is limited, perhaps not more than 18-20% of our energy requirement.” And he explains: “Our food needs to be ready by 11.30 am, which means that we have to start our food preparation at a time when the sunlight is not yet intense. The good solar energy comes at midday, too late for lunch and too early for dinner. We can’t store that energy. The Kitchen therefore uses a diesel boiler, and petrol and gas.”

The purchase of some new equipment is being considered. One is a chapati-making machine (Rs 5 lakhs), another a dishwashing machine (Rs 70-80 lakhs). Both are required for hygienic reasons and to lessen labour. “We will soon submit a proposal to the BCC which will pay for the machines if it approves our request,” says Manimaran.

Community involvement

Volunteers regularly help out in the Solar Kitchen, and recently many children joined during their school holidays. “It was an eye-opener for many children,” says Vanitha. “I’ve heard them exclaim ‘Oh my god, you put so much energy in it, now I am gonna eat it!’ They have started to realize what value the community kitchen contributes. It was also an eye-opener for us. We would welcome it if all newcomers and children work for a few days at the kitchen, and perhaps also at the farms. It will create a better understanding about the value of our food.’

“Educating Aurovilians about the food they eat is another of our aims,” contributes Harishini. “For example, many do not like red rice. We use parboiled white rice instead, which is a little less processed than pure white rice. We have also added more carrots and spinach to the menu, as we were told that many people here have a B-12 deficiency. But we have not yet started a true food-education programme. For that, a nutritionist should come in.”

The Solar Kitchen’s dining room has a seating capacity of 300, which, with a bit of squeezing, can be extended to 350. In total it serves 1100 people a day, which includes providing 500 school meals and filling 250 tiffins. “But we can do much more,” says Harishini. “Come back next year and see how we have fared