Second Harvest

"Heart Kitchens is a developmental project that produces and supplies delicious and nutritious vegetable stews to NGOs and schools in disadvantaged communities in Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Paarl at a fraction of the cost of conventional meals."

Tom Kagerer - managing Second Harvest

key information

problem statement

A nutritious diet is vital for a healthy immune system, especially for growing children. Extensive research at grassroots level in disadvantaged communities in South Africa revealed most projects that feed children are poorly resourced, use inferior quality ingredients and produce soups and bread only. Feeding programmes usually swallow a significant portion of the organisation’s budget, particularly since food prices have soared in recent years. Transporting food without vehicles is backbreaking, not to mention dangerous due to high incidents of theft.

solution

The concept of collecting food destined for waste from farmers, cooking it into stews and distributing the prepared meals was born. Vegetable farmers usually plough about 10% to 20% of their crops back into the ground. They do this because the vegetables are not market quality (although still nutritious). We approach local farmers to let us harvest this produce, which is then used to make nutritious stews. The cooled stew is packaged into 4kg bags and frozen. A bag can typically feed 16 - 20 children. Qualified nutritionists have produced several delicious recipes. The bags are sold to NGOs and schools at a marginal price of R8.00 each. One Heart Kitchen has the capacity to produce 5000 bags per month (80 000 meals).

Click here to order Second Harvest Food bags.

unit 201
old castle brewery building
6 beach rd
woodstock, cape town

7429

south africa