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the Bolivian food movement, we will take a look at how Meyer wanted to build up the food movement in Bolivia.
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In order to support the process of establishing a Bolivian food movement, Melting Pot Foundation Bolivia together with the Danish Embassy, organised the first food fair TAMBO and a symposium which took place in La Paz from 12-14 October 2012. This was an opportunity for various culinary stakeholders and individual “foodies” to meet and discuss potential benefits as well as common challenges in the process of revaluating the Bolivian food culture. At the event there was also a business round table where buyers and sellers of various agricultural produce could meet and explore business opportunities. On the same occasion the Manifesto of Bolivia‟s Gastronomic Integration Movement (MIGA)9 was drafted and agreed upon by various representatives in the food producing sector. The project itself is not envisaged as pure profitable business opportunity, but also as a social enterprise that would also benefit Bolivian society in long term. According to Meyer the aim is to explore whether food, the universal language of humanity can be used as an efficient tool for giving uneducated and marginalized young people a basis for becoming a generation of grassroots entrepreneurs, who will be able to lift their families and local communities out of poverty and hunger.
9 This Manifesto includes the following Precepts:
1. To be inclusive and become a source and symbol of pride and unification among Bolivians.
2. To highlight the diversity of native and local products and cultural and production practices, and to promote sustainability by linking them to Bolivian gastronomy.
3. To combine the search for great taste with the importance of human health and the environment.
4. To re-appreciate regional gastronomic knowledge, part of traditional culture, and safeguard it as national cultural heritage.
5. To have Bolivia‟s Gastronomy be a reflection of the diversity of our products based on their ecological strata, harvesting seasons and preparation modes particular to our country.
6. To propose cooking styles based on original and local techniques and ingredients while also taking into consideration global trends.
7. To generate a culture of gastronomic quality by educating students, producers, chefs, merchants, authorities and consumers.
8. To promote gastronomic research, documentation and dissemination.
9. To promote a fraternal, trustworthy and cooperative relationship among all actors part of the gastronomic chain.
10. To recognize, strengthen and include gastronomic and productive regional movements.
11. To have Bolivia‟s Gastronomic Integration Movement become an engine for positive social and economic change through the advocacy of public policy proposals, the generation of new jobs, the just distribution of resources and tourism promotion.
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When making a decision about which country would best be suited for his project a number of criteria10 have been considered. In order to attain those goals Meyer partnered with a Danish NGO, IBIS, which has been present in the country for almost 30 years. In this regard, the organisation has a deep understanding of the Bolivian society, especially in the field of education which is its core competence. Therefore, IBIS partnered with Meyer on this project and together they decided to establish Melting Pot Bolivia which is a non-profit charity foundation which has two main goals:
1. To educate and provide socially disadvantaged young Bolivians with an opportunity to be a generation of grassroots entrepreneurs who will be able to lift their families and communities out of poverty and hunger.
2. To support the Bolivian food movement which is based on the idea that by releasing the potential of Bolivia‟s food heritage can promote health, education, employment and ultimately economic growth in the country.
10 The youth:
1) The necessity of safeguarding a sustainable future for a large group of marginalized youths 2) A large number of young people in the population
3) A need for economic development, but sufficient economic stability to educate food entrepreneurs who can start their own company or find employment in the food business
4) Prospects of upward social mobility
5) Sufficient reading and writing skills to work with recipes in the kitchen, take orders in the restaurant, and handle bills in the office etc.
The food
1) A rich basis for agricultural produce, a variegated agricultural production 2) A blooming of good local suppliers
3) An infrastructure that allows for the transport of the produce
4) A gastronomic-cultural potential, where we can contribute to unfolding the beauty and integrity of the local cuisine.
Access to the local community
1) A relatively stable political and social climate, so we can operate safely in the country
2) A substantial commercial potential for growth, i.e. a large and diverse costumer basis
3) A chance to contribute positively to the local economy, i.e. through the purchase of local products and services
4) English or Spanish as one of the official languages so we can get by communication-wise in the country
5) A local partner with strong local roots, someone who shares our visions, and someone with whom we feel good chemistry
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In order to achieve its main goal Melting Pot Bolivia has founded GUSTU Food School, which will be the scenario to create, redefine and discover the immense possibilities of Bolivian agricultural products.
The cooking school is an integral part of the restaurant where approx. 30 young socially disadvantaged young people are trained each year to become future chefs, waiters, bakers and restaurant managers. As such GUSTU restaurant and cooking school represent a cornerstone of the Bolivian Food Movement. In principle, the cooking school would copy the success of the New Nordic Kitchen movement. Just like NOMA had a great success in discovering great Nordic produce, the mission of GUSTU is to explore the diversity of Bolivian products. Its aim is to rediscover the values of the indigenous food cultures from the Amazon, the Altiplano (High Plateau) and the valleys in order to develop new culinary expressions that will become an asset to the food movement in Bolivia.
It has to be mentioned as well that what sets NOMA and GUSTU apart from other restaurants is that they have a sort of an R&D division, i.e. a food laboratory, connected to the restaurant (Hieger 2013). The aim of this Food Lab lies in the experimentation of new products or new ways to prepare already known products. GUSTU restaurant is actually even closer to the original(ist) philosophy of the New Nordic Kitchen Movement as all of the products served at the restaurant including wine, beers and spirits are of Bolivian origin only. Let us now turn the cornerstone of the Bolivian Food Movement, Meyer‟s GUSTU restaurant in La Paz.