The Revolution Will Not Be Processed: Oxfam takes part in Food Revolution Day in Brazil

Brazil's Food Revolution

When we first received the invitation for Food Revolution Day, a lot was going on at Oxfam Brazil’s office in Brasilia. Rio+20 is just around the corner – less than two weeks from now. So the decision to participate in the events on May 19 wasn’t an easy one, as it would take some time and preparation.

On the other hand, we love food. And some of our colleagues do have a reputation for being great cooks! Plus, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to have my friends over, catch up, cook together and talk about GROW.

So, even though we were short on time, the idea of uniting GROW, Food Revolution Day and some friends wasn’t far fetched. After all, Food Revolution Day is about teaching people better methods of cooking and eating to make food go further for everyone. That’s pretty much GROW's manifesto! But first, we decided we needed to get the message out to our supporters, so we created an event on Oxfam Brazil’s Facebook page and invited people in Brazil to be a part of the revolution.

We’ve asked our supporters to go to a public event Food Revolution Day event close to them and post their pictures to our Facebook timeline. In Brazil there were events across the country, from organic cooking classes in Brasilia, to ‘grow your own’ workshops in Rio.

People could cooked a fresh meal with friends or family and shared the results in pictures on our wall. We encouraged people to source their ‘real’ food from organic farmers’ markets, just like we did for our own dinner. For the best pictures, we gave away 5 exclusive GROW t-shirts! Supporter Fernando Mamani even animated his guide to making a revolution pizza!

Farmer's Market in São Paulo

In Brasilia, Rafael Cruz from the campaigns team, went to a public event at Parque da Cidade in the city of Póvoa de Varzim, and took some pictures for us. At the same time, I was back in São Paulo, at the local farmers’ market to buy some fresh vegetables and fruit. 

Oxfam's GROW dinner

The idea was to have the dinner party at a friend’s house. Of course, just a few hours from the cooking time, she called and had to cancel! So off I was, at the last minute, trying to find a new kitchen to prepare our dinner! Thankfully, another friend stepped up, and we had extra company when we’re cooking: her Shih-tzu dog!

As dinner was served, everybody was already quite hungry, and the quiet sound of rumbling bellies was all we could hear. But as hunger pangs were replaced with satisfaction, conversation struck up and pretty soon we were talking about what exactly ‘processed food’ is – and how much we eat without noticing. 

We ate pork chops (from the farmers’ market) marinated in fresh orange juice, with a salad of cherry tomatoes and purple onions, and mashed arracacha (or, as we call it, ‘little cassava’, or mandioquinha). I can’t be sure if they meant it, but everyone said they loved what I prepared. So I choose to believe them.

It was really fun talking about GROW issues to my friends as the conversation was totally relevant to what we were eating. It’s not a bad idea, to change the world a meal at a time!

Read more

See: Cresça (GROW) Food Revolution Day pictures on Flickr

See: GROW campaign in Brazil on Facebook

Read: GROW campaigners host a potluck dinner for Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day [blog]