A cooking school for Oxfam Italy

New sustainable and gluten-free cooking courses at the Mercato Centrale.

The initiative, promoted by the Lorenzo de’ Medici Cooking School, the Mercato Centerale Firenze and food bloggers Chiara Brandi and Gaia Murarolli, supports Oxfam Italia projects that fight against poverty, a focus of the campaign #sfidolafame, a call to fight hunger.

Good cuisine can help in the fight against world hunger. New Sustainable and Gluten-Free cooking courses will launch on October 9 at the Lorenzo de’ Medici Cooking School inside the Mercato Centrale Firenze (in piazza del Mercato Centrale), in support of Oxfam’s work to fight world hunger (www.oxfamitalia.org).

During these eight lessons, with limited spots available and held every Friday from 7pm to 10pm, foodies will be guided on a discovery of international cuisine and gluten-free dishes and specialties. The lessons will be led by food bloggers Chiara Brandi, author of the blog Forchettina Giramondo, and Gaia Murarolli, behind the blog Ginger Gluten Free, and will support Oxfam Italia projects that fight against poverty, a focus of the campaign #sfidolafame. The program is promoted by the humanitarian association in an effort to raise awareness amongst the public, companies and institutions about the injustice of world hunger, and invites people to adopt fairer and more sustainable production and consumption in their daily lives (www.sfidolafame.it).

“We would like to thank all the promoters and partners of the initiative for supporting our work,” said Lorenzo Redi, director of activities for Oxfam Italia. “Hunger can and must be defeated: it’s unacceptable that in a world where abundance reigns, 805 million people still don’t have enough food on a daily basis. Participating in these cooking courses means offering concrete help to those who still today are forced to fight day in and day out to be able to procure food for themselves and their families.”

The themes of the courses

During the lessons, cooking experts and amateurs will be introduced to delicious recipes made with gluten-free products and specialties from different countries throughout the world. The main ingredients will be quinoa, coffee and cocoa, inspired by some products related to Oxfam’s projects for fighting poverty, which are backed by small farming producers in the Southern Hemisphere.

This initiative was created because of a growing public interest in themes related to food and cooking, and will offer Florentines the possibility to don a chef’s hat while having fun, all while remaining mindful and without ever forgetting the ethical value of what revolves around the world of food.

If on the one hand the course will provide tricks and suggestions for gluten-free cooking and international dishes, on the other, it will examine in-depth “unique” themes, like intolerances and the gluten allergy, introducing participants to flavours and atmospheres from all over the world.

Partners

The initiative has been made possible thanks to the precious collaboration between the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute, which will offer its prestigious, professional cooking school free of charge, and the Mercato Centrale Firenze, host of the initiative. Amongst the project’s partners are a few companies that have already made an “informed” choice and who will provide their best products to cook with, like Molino Rossetto, Nutrifree and Probios.

“In a place whose main focus is food, we couldn’t not address the absence of food, a problem that affects millions of people throughout the world. Thanks to Oxfam, we’ve been able to do just that. At the same time, we feel that focusing on gluten-free cuisine and its expressions is not only important but a duty.”