Soup Kitchens: Food Access and Feasible Food Preparations. Collective Experiences in the Buenos Aires Province

Abstract

Soup kitchens have emerged in Argentina as a spontaneous action to palliate nutritional needs since the late 1980s. Multiple food programs are involved in their funding, infrastructure, and supply. This paper aims to analyze soup kitchen's food preparation and their coordination with the state assistance provided to them. Establishing this relationship allows for identifying self-organization strategies used for cooking by women in charge of soup kitchens in marginal areas of the District of General Pueyrredon in 2020. This is a qualitative study. Through theoretical snowball sampling, in-depth interviews that were conducted with women responsible for soup kitchens. The main results show that food policies implementation modulates an inequality structure whereby many different social groups have access to poor feeding practices. The predominance of dry food supply reinforces monotonous and filling meals defined as tasty and magical. Women responsible for cooking are expected to improve these meals nutritionally. Access to fresh food implies work overload for such women.