Learn more about our mission, how the Community Kitchen was created, and the people behind the project!

About Us

OUR MISSION

Reduce food waste

Every dinner saves substantial amounts of produce from the local market which cannot be sold and would otherwise be thrown away. In addition, cooking together helps realise economies of scale to reduce the food waste that comes with everyone cooking individually.

Provide affordable meals

The Community Kitchen aims to provide cheap, sustainable meals to support students with a small budget. To make the dinners accessible to everyone, we offer the meals for a low price, which is only designed to cover costs of ingredients and equipment, not to make profit.

Create awareness for sustainable diets

Preparing vegan meals can be daunting, and the Community Kitchen provides students with the opportunity to easily introduce more plant-based eating to their diet as well as demonstrate how delicious it can be. Furthermore, volunteering for the Community Kitchen provides individuals with the opportunity to learn about vegan cooking from others with more experience.

Create an inclusive socialising space for the LUC community

The Community Kitchen project adds to the existing socialising spaces at LUC in a unique way since it is not alcohol-driven, floor-driven or special interest/ability based. The food served is accessible to almost all, as it is vegan and we communicate clearly about potential allergens. No alcohol is served as we want to provide an event where everyone feels welcome and comfortable.

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OUR STORY

The Community Kitchen traces its origins to March 2022, when LUC participated in the global Climate Justice Teach-In. Following the event, a group of LUC students prepared and served a vegan community dinner. The event's success and the enthusiastic feedback demonstrated how deeply the dinner resonated with the community. Encouraged by this response, the organizers hosted a second pilot dinner in May 2022, which was equally successful. These events inspired plans to launch weekly community dinners for the LUC community. However, the journey to establishing weekly dinners was challenging. During the initial phase, the organizers faced significant hurdles. They had to pay the LUC facility managers to use the kitchen, which made weekly dinners financially unfeasible. Additionally, the lack of proper equipment meant that cooking for over 70 people had to be done with students' small pots and induction plates.

A turning point came in the summer of 2023 when ownership of the kitchen was transferred to LUC, with the Community Kitchen appointed as its manager. This change allowed the team to use the kitchen free of charge. Moreover, securing an ECOLAS grant and substantial funding from LUC enabled the purchase of professional equipment and provided the resources needed to move forward. By this time, the original project initiators were preparing to graduate. They sought new leadership to bring the vision of the Community Kitchen to life. In the summer of 2023, three first- and second year students stepped in to take over the project. They navigated the complexities of Dutch bureaucracy to establish a foundation, ensuring the project had the necessary legal and operational framework. After months of effort, Stichting Community Kitchen was officially founded in March 2024.

Despite this milestone, significant work remained. A business bank account needed to be opened, equipment ordered, volunteers and board members recruited, roles and tasks assigned, and a business plan developed—all by volunteers juggling academic responsibilities and deadlines. Finally, after nearly two years of perseverance, the Grand Opening of the Community Kitchen took place in November 2024. Since then, we have been cooking and serving dinners every Tuesday. In the end, the overwhelmingly positive feedback from both staff and students has made all the hard work worthwhile.