Know thy neighbor, share some food

Let’s say you are at home, alone, with a flue, wouldn’t it be awesome if your neighbor brought you a warm soup to make you feel better?  It would be likely to happen if you lived in the Reigate and Banstead District, in the South of England, where Futuregov launched Casserole, a project to help bring communities together, through food sharing. Thanks to an online platform, people can offer to cook some extra food for the neighbors who might not always be able to cook for themselves or go grocery shopping. All you have to do to offer your availability is sign up on the project website and post about the meal you’re going to cook, so that people who need some help can check out who’s cooking in their area. 

 

As the service can be particularly helpful to older people, the Casserole team work extensively offline and they have also activated a phone line. Besides, in order to give a support to people who might need help more often, they have developed Pair Up,  a scheme through which a “cook” and a “diner” share a meal on a daily basis.

 

Right now, all “diners” who are part of the Pair Up scheme are over the age of 80 and 70% of people who have tried sharing food casually on the site, sign up to cook more regularly and joined the Pair Up scheme.

 

Financed by Independence Matters, a program to support the development of consumer services for later life, Casserole tackles social isolation through shared food.

Besides being a great way to help who is in need, the project allows people to get to know better their community and their neighbors, while doing something meaningful. 

“This morning I cooked some vegetables for my neighbor and it only took me 10 minutes” Said Pamela Harrison, one of Casserole’s first volunteer cooks, “Anyone can take part in the initiative. Anyone can help.”