Feed the Doctors

Our team came together at the start of the pandemic in March 2020. We all work in the gastronomy business, so we decided to use our knowledge and experience to support healthcare workers with healthy nutrition. We formed our non-profit company in May 2020 with broader ambitions by then. We used our existing stock during lockdown to make meals, while others joined us to utilise surplus groceries, create jobs for restaurants that had to close and provide support. Via gastronomy we create more solidarity and a more environmentally conscious and healthier world.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, gastronomy workers lost their jobs, and family restaurants were at risk of losing their business as the demand for restaurants fell. At the same time, healthcare workers were overburdened at underresourced hospitals. Our project supports healthcare workers while creating jobs in gastronomy and educating the public on sustainability.

Feed the Doctors (“Etesd a dokit”) not only supports doctors and healthcare workers by delivering them healthy meals, but it also combats food waste and generates new jobs in gastronomy, a field hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. We also mobilise volunteers and community donations to feed communities in need while working with restaurants and companies to create positive social change through gastronomy.

We began by supporting healthcare works and gastronomy workers during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our organisation currently provides meals to Ukrainian refugees; we also established educational programmes on sustainability for children and the public. Feed the Doctors also has long-term partnerships with private donors and companies.

Feed the Doctors is committed to fostering positive social change through outreach and sustainability in gastronomy. We distributed over 160,000 meals and worked at over 50 hospitals, vaccination stations, and out-patient care centres. Our organisation also cooperated with 7 organisations, including the 274 National Ambulance and the Order of Malta. Our organisation hosted 4 charity cooking events and launched 8 outreach, fundraising, and educational projects, including supporting Ukrainian refugees in 2022.

Feed the Doctors can be adapted and expanded to other places to create a greener, healthier, more inclusive world through gastronomy. Our model combining community engagement with public advocacy and long-term partnerships would be an asset to other organisations in other regions and countries.