foodculturedays x PIONIRA: Walter El Nagar

Walter El Nagar is a chef that focuses on creating a more sustainable food chain, ranging from produce to conscious and fair working conditions in restaurants. Moving away from exclusivity and centering his thoughts on how to involve the community, Walter includes the responsibilities that this implies. In this video co-produced by foodculture days and PIONIRA, he shares his perceptions on cooking as an artisanal form and introduces his new non-profit project “Refettorio Geneva”.
Through this anti-waste and solidarity restaurant run by the Mater Fondazione, his mother project, Walter invites us to consider alternative ways of thinking and doing gastronomy.
Geneva is one of the cities with the highest standard of living in the world and is home to the headquarters of many global institutions related to the right to food (UNICEF, UN, ...). Despite this, precariousness is a daily reality for many and it became more visible during Covid times, as people queued up to 3 hours for a 30€-worth bag of food aid.
In a contemporary world of overlapping social crises, both environmental and geopolitical, “Refetorio Geneva” is conceived as a space of nutrition, bonding, and social inclusion. The community members, mainly volunteers, keep the project alive daily, offering free lunch and paid dinner, and opening the conversation about the toxic culture of the food and beverages’ industry (mental health, alcoholism, machismo, etc).
For more information: www.refettoriogeneva.org/

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