interviews

We spoke to Caroline, one of the organisers of GZG. She was very happy to work together with us. We’ve planned to visit an event next week at GroenGoed which they are hosting, and meet up with her and one of the co-founders to see in what way we can collaborate.

The following is a short summary of some of the things she told us about the current situation and plans of the initiative:

Lockdown

During the lockdown it wasn’t possible to organise their usual dinners anymore, so GZG temporarily changed their “business model” into making food packages, who were then distributed by another local initiative to people in need.

1. Supermarkets:
Lidl
Marqt
Ecoplaza

2. Another social initiative:
- GroenGoed

3. Goodwill/church leftovers and donations:
7th day adventis church
Hare Krishna
Voedselbank in Maassluis

Now

Caroline told us that they are just starting to collect leftovers from the market again, but instead of making food packages, they want to start to cook meals and they are trying to find a way to distribute them with the help of other local initiatives to people in need

Plans for the future

GZG has applied for subsidies from the municipality of Rotterdam, to be able to finance a project coordinator, so the initiative can grow.

They are currently interested in:
focussing on kids events
Starting a location in the South of Rotterdam (municipality is also interested)
Becoming an erkend leerbedrijf for plant based cooking

Possible collaborations/ideas:

About food waste on a macro scale:

Their business model revolves around the idea that leftover food from markets/supermarkets will always exist, which they then turn into a social value. This does not solve the “problem” we see around the large amount of food that is left over from these places, and actually goes to waste. Is there a middle ground?

Example of Lidl selling the leftovers for a really small price: in this example, the other chain (eg. de voedselbank) might not be needed as much. Is that a good thing? These organisations also have social value and contribute to social cohesion in a neighbourhood (for the visitors as well as the volunteers). In what way can we look at this micro/macro scale and find a solution that solves both of these things?

Also: What is GZG’s food waste? And how can we make this more circular? So this actually becomes the last part of the chain.

Other options to focus on:

How can they get subsidies from the municipality of Rotterdam and can we help them?
How are they viewed by the public?

Questions:
Food waste from GZG: what is done with this?

Research questions:
- Hoe staat GZG macro in relatie tot het Macro level van food waste

Interview with Caroline - Organisator of Groente Zonder Grenzen

Interview with Senka - Volunteer at Groente Zonder Grenzen

Can you tell a little bit about yourself?

I am Senka and I study graphic design at WdKA and do some illustration on the site. I volunteered at Groenten Zonder Grenzen before the COVID situation, because they had to close down. Usually they already have 30-35 people for a meal, which would be breaking rules at that moment.

Why did you want to be a volunteer at Groenten Zonder Grenzen?

I wanted to volunteer with them, because I can not stand food waste and also because I am low-key obsessed with the idea a freeganism. Where we take advantage of all these things that were thrown away in a society that lives with so much surplus.

Did you know the initiative before you knew about this food waste problem in Rotterdam specifically?

Yes, a friend of mine was already volunteering here and I got introduced before I knew how bad it was. I think that that initiative made me more aware and then later I researched more into waste. Also being surrounded by that kind of community, those kind of people that know so much by having a lot of resources.

Can you explain how your day(s) look like as a volunteer?

Usually we would meet up a bit before the market is closing. So we would not go midday, but more towards the end. We wil get the wheelbarrows from Kipstraat, where GZG is located in a community centre. We would than briefly strategise, like “you speak Dutch, so could you ask them” or “can you carry the wheelbarrow?”. This is based on who is there and how much energy they have. For example there was this volunteer that was pregnant who wanted to help, but wasn’t allowed to carry heavier things. After collecting all the food from the markets, we would make an overview of all the rescued food and post that in the WhatsApp group. Everyone can make suggestions what to cook with it and on Wednesdays they prepare the dinner.

Do you know the people that work on the market or do they know you?

I don’t know if they would still remember us now. But they were very well aware that we would be there every week. At one point we even had flyers and business cards. So they thought of us as a legitimate thing and usually we knew who would always gave us stuff. We knew who would be more prone to give us things. Because some people really don’t want to give you anything, they kinda just want it to throw away. Others already give it to other organisations.

How much do you collect at the market on average? And is there food waste after the dinners?

Quite a bit. It’s really more than you need to feed thirty people. What usually end up happening, is that you get a lot of one thing. For example you’ll get more than 5 kg of grapes and you’re not gonna use all of that. When it’s veggies, it’s easier to use. But if it’s fruits that it will be a fruit salad or a special dessert. However, the people that volunteer that day will take some of that fruit home because there is just too much. There was this one guy that works at a zoo and brought some of the things to the animals. After the actual dinner, most of the time there are leftover and people will take these home too. Even the older people, they’ll bring Tupperware with them. Also I know that one time that we had an insane amount of pears or something like that, to the point that it was too much to carry. Some older ladies saw us getting it for free. So they asked us: “Can we have some?”. And we were like: “Yeah, sure, no problem.” But the marketman saw that we gave them some. He doesn’t want to give us anymore, because if he could’ve sold it for money. He was righteous angry about it, so we had to stop doing that. Instead we had to refer to people about the dinner they would make and that they could come and have some.

How do they get for example spices or other products that you need for cooking, but won’t get from the market?

Spices, rice, pasta and other things that you usually don’t get at the market are donation-based. So the people that come to eat or sometimes the volunteers themselves as well will bring these items. There is a list of donations that the place could use and then someone will bring for example rice and another person will bring a spice or stuff like that. So there is a system that is very volunteer-based.

How many volunteers are there, estimated?

There are definitely people who are more prominent and who are less prominent. There are people who volunteer more and less, because people’s life situations change. Some people will volunteer while doing an internship and then they get a job and stop volunteering. While others sticks and volunteer for a while. In the WhatsApp group that we have, there are 68 participants. So that’s quite a bit. I think that there are around 20 people active active.

Are the people volunteering and the people who come for the dinner more or less the same each week?

There was kind of a rotation of the same people that are volunteering. Sometimes there is a person that usually volunteers and other people who can’t that day and then they’ll bring their friends. I can’t say for sure about the dinners, because I didn’t go to the dinners that much. Unfortunately they never really aligned with my schedule, but I went maybe two or three times. Usually there was a section of volunteers and quite a bit of old people. But I can’t say for sure if there are the same each week.

Do you feel that you are a part of a community?

I always felt like very accepted in the sense that there is a variety of people, usually very nice. You know, people eat together and talk to each other. I know once I was in a weird situation. I got to a table where there were only Hogeschool Rotterdam employees all from different sectors. There was this one woman that was doing PR, a guy was a guard. I was a student, so that was kind of a funny moment and we talked about things. I don’t think that I am as engaged as others, because the active volunteering as it was, isn’t active at the moment. Now in the WhatsApp group there is more sharing of news and food fairs and I am not that intrigued and I don’t have that much time to focus on that, so in that sense I am more in the background.

Would you like to continue volunteering if the situation (COVID) would allow you?

Yeah, I would love to. I did stop for a bit, because my work schedule dint’t allow me to go on those days. But in the future, yeah, I would love to for sure.

What do you think can be improved?

The way it is advertised, because it’s mostly by mouth-to-mouth advertisement. There are not a lot of people outside of that community or people who are interested in these kind of topics that will get to know this initiative. The flyers and business cards that we had when we went to the market, was a great thing to have. In that way the marketmen would takes us more seriously. Also I am thinking about a project that I did last year, where I made face masks from peels. I am not entirely sure, but I don’t think that the peels from GZG are being composted. You could for example dry the peels and make it into a powder and then use that. I don’t think there is the possibility for them to do things like this, because it’s in a community centre. But it is definitely a good idea to think about all the other waste that accumulates as well. There are also things that can’t be saved and it would be nice if that can be used to compost.