When Food Becomes the Strategy
Through our relationships in the travel industry, cross-sector membership, and nonprofit supporters, we at Tourism Cares have witnessed businesses adapt, shift and implement strategies to focus their work where it is needed. What we’ve seen is a striking number of efforts relating to the United Nation’s second Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger, ensuring nutritious and sufficient food year-round for all people.
Those who pivoted to focus on sustaining livelihoods are creating a resilient, sustainable business model. The thread that weaves through each of these organizations is that they took steps to raise the bar through sustainable tourism solutions. They fortified their communities through free, daily meal deliveries to those in need, and did so by raising their values: diverting food from landfills, educating on well-being and social justice, and promoting sustainable packaging solutions.
The key is that they do not operate in isolation, all of us are part of this ‘food chain.’ As we weave their example into our business models and travel products, we as a whole become stronger.
Hotels Joining Hands, Siem Reap, Cambodia
After returning home to Cambodia when COVID-19 started, Christian de Boer, boutique hotel owner and founder of Refill not Landfill, began delivering free meals to the Khmer community.
Through a community-based partnership between his hotel and two others, NGOs, and community businesses, 400 plastic and styrofoam-free meals have been delivered to the Siem Reap Provincial Hospital every day for the last 4 months. Operating out of 2 local restaurants allowed them to create employment in Siem Reap’s depleted tourism industry and teach their reduced plastic efforts to more of the community.
The total meals distributed have now reached more than 43.000 meals, and each meal costs $1.21 to make. Every single dollar donated goes towards the preparation and distribution of the meals.
The approaching monsoon season threatens to bring water-borne diseases and malnutrition in unprecedented numbers because of the economic impact the virus has had on the international tourism market. In response, Christian is looking to expand to handing out 500-600 much-needed meals. To help reach this goal, Tourism Cares, on behalf of the NTA Travel Leaders Fund, donated over 2,100 meals to Hotels Joining Hands to continue their inspiring and increasingly impactful efforts.
Bracken’s Kitchen, Garden Grove, CA
TOURISM CARES FOUND BRACKEN’S KITCHEN WHEN SEARCHING FOR A SUSTAINABLE CATERING PARTNER FOR A SERVICE-PROJECT HELD IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE IPW CONVENTION, HELD IN ANAHEIM IN 2018.
Bracken’s Kitchen’s mission has always been to nourish people’s lives through food. When the COVID-19 outbreak started, they quickly seized the opportunity to shift focus from the food truck feeding program to safely and directly providing meals to those in need.
Beyond feeding the community, Bracken’s Kitchen gave them work, too, hiring 16 out-of-work, skilled restaurant professionals to help with the increase of 8,000 to 35,000 hot, nutritious meals distributed per week. To date, 437,000 meals have been given out with over 50 collaborative partners. It doesn’t end there, though! Bracken’s Kitchen has kept 100 tons of food out of landfills.
Fundación Cortes, San Juan, Puerto Rico
FUNDACIÓN CORTÉS WAS ONE OF TOURISM CARES’ SOCIAL ENTERPRISE CONNECTOR EXHIBITORS AT THE PUERTO RICO MEANINGFUL TRAVEL SUMMIT IN 2019.
Fundación Cortés is a non-profit rooted in educating and inspiring, specifically around the arts of the Caribbean and Latin America. When the pandemic hit, the foundation teamed up with Chocobar Cortés, a farm-to-bar gastronomic chocolate family restaurant, to extend their impact! Here are the incredible programs they’ve created in just the past few months:
Mensajes que Endulzan: In partnership with Kia Motors Puerto Rico, hot chocolate, breakfast and personalized Buen Día and thank you cards have been delivered to approximately 500 frontline workers at hospitals, non-profits, and police stations to bring a warm, sweet chocolate moment to them.
Nutrition Program 2020: Over 300 free daily meals are being delivered to people in vulnerable communities. Chocobar Cortés prepares the meals and also donates an additional one for every one purchased for take-out or delivery at the restaurant. So far, more than 7,100 lunches have been given away!
Educa Cortés Program: Keeping with their educational focus, Fundación Cortés began virtual team-based and individual workshops that have impacted over 13,000 children, youth, and older adults by promoting wellbeing through culture, identity, self-sufficiency/sustainability, dignity, and social justice.
Three Square Food Bank Las Vegas, Nevada
Three Square is Nevada’s only food bank and a member of Feeding America. Their vision has long been that no one in their community go hungry. Combining food banking (canned and boxed goods), food rescue (obtaining surplus and unused goods), ready-to-eat meals, and advocacy, allows them to pursue a hunger-free future.
Tourism employs around 35% of the workforce, or upwards of 370,000 people, in Southern Nevada. The state is estimated is estimated to have lost 67,000 jobs as a result of COVID-19.
Consequently, the pandemic nearly doubled the number of food-insecure people in Southern Nevada to 447,000 while compromising Three Square’s entire system. They honed in on an Emergency Distribution Strategy rooted in thought and consideration to distribute 12.5 million meals in 12 weeks in a shut-down city!
Earlier this year, Tourism Cares planned to bring 100 delegates from US Travel's IPW Conference together for a day of conversation and volunteering centered on food insecurity with Three Square. COVID-19 disrupted these plans, but while Tourism Cares will volunteer with Three Square next year during IPW's rescheduled conference, we know the need is dire. Thanks to our partners and sponsors, a $5,000 grant was awarded to Three Square to support them in their emergency food distribution strategy within the Las Vegas communities.
It’s time to get to work.
These individuals and teams rallied to go above and beyond during times of crisis and inspire all to be a part of global change to answer the UN’s call to action. So, how can you get involved with social enterprises and sustainable tourism? Here are some tools for action:
Become part of the food chain. Weave social enterprises like the above into your travel products, CSR or team education.
Tap into more social enterprises for your travel product in Fifteen Travel Changemakers: Leading through Peace and Sustainability
Use these two articles as a resource to enlighten clients and your team: Defining Social Enterprises and Demystifying Sustainability.