In Argentina, where roughly two in every five are below the poverty line, soup kitchens, or “comedores comunitarios”, feed people by the millions. Soup kitchens in slums and popular districts run by the people who live there grew in the years leading up to the 2001 crisis. Today, neighborhood groups, sports clubs, churches, and social movements finance 34,782 soup kitchens employing 134,449 people, some getting paid and others working pro-bono, according to official numbers. On Monday, national deputy Natalia Zaracho from Patria Grande – a left-wing party part of the ruling coalition Frente de Todos– presented a bill seeking to guarantee salaries for community cooks working in soup kitchens. The project was authored by community cooks of La Poderosa, who are now pushing for its approval and have invited other social movements to join efforts.

Source: Bueno Aires Herald June 10, 2023 19:29 UTC