Category: FeedThePlanet

Like a Chef Program Empowers Egyptian Women

• Feed the Planet partners Worldchefs and Electrolux Food Foundation have launched the Like a Chef employment training program in cooperation with Wahda Gedida Initiative, Baheya Hospital and the Egyptian Chefs Association.
• 20 women undergoing or recovering from cancer treatments are receiving culinary skills and job placement assistance to help them identify suitable employment and secure a source of income.
• The unique Like a Chef initiative was launched in 2017 with a goal to educate and train 3,000 people worldwide by 2030. Learn more about Feed the Planet programs including Like A Chef at feedtheplanet.worldchefs.org.

Paris, 23 of March 2023 – Feed the Planet partners Worldchefs and Electrolux Food Foundation have launched the Like a Chef employment training program in cooperation with the Wahda Gedida Initiative, Baheya Hospital and the Egyptian Chefs Association (ECA). The five-week culinary training program trains and empowers women in Egypt with culinary skills that will help them identify suitable job opportunities and secure a source of income.

Baheya Hospital selected 20 women undergoing or recovering from cancer treatments to participate in the latest Like a Chef training in Cairo, Egypt. Professional chefs from Worldchefs’ National Association member ECA provide culinary training and assistance to program graduates to obtain jobs at a number of major restaurants and hotels. 

“Our goal with the Like a Chef program was to develop women’s culinary skills by bringing in global expertise to help them secure promising job opportunities and sustainable income,” says Maissam Hannawi, Managing Director of Electrolux Egypt. “It was equally important for us to be part of this initiative because we are doing something special for these women who have faced health challenges. We are giving them back a sense of empowerment and belief in what they can accomplish. Because we believe in the principle of equal opportunities and the need to support women in all possible ways.”

Impacting Communities

The Feed the Planet partnership provides meaningful community initiatives that educate, empower and mobilize people in professional kitchens and at home to create real change. Developed by Electrolux Food Foundation, Worldchefs and local partners, the unique Like a Chef initiative equips underprivileged people with culinary workplace skills. Like a Chef is currently active in Brazil, Sweden, Poland and Egypt.

The Wahda Gedida initiative amplifies inspiring stories from women throughout the region, highlighting equality and empowerment issues aligned with Egypt’s Sustainable Development Plan 2030. Together with Baheya Hospital, a renowned hospital for the support, research and treatment of breast cancer, Like a Chef Egypt is making an impact for women in the local community. 

Culinary Training

Divided into three waves of students, each wave of the Like a Chef Egypt program delivers five weeks of training to attendees. Participants learn how to prepare and cook local cuisine with a sustainable mindset to minimize food waste. At the end of the training, Electrolux Group employees teach additional business skills, including basic accounting, sales and marketing. Each day the women arrive ready to learn, with a sense of comradery building as they boil, whisk and steam their way through the lessons. 

The Like a Chef initiative was launched in late 2017 with a goal to educate and train 3,000 people worldwide by 2030. The Cairo program is the latest development in Feed the Planet partner’ mission to achieve this goal. Providing more than cooking skills, Like a Chef graduates walk away with a renewed self of self-confidence and job assistance. Most importantly, they tie their apron with a new sense of empowerment. 

“This experience meant so much to me,” says Dina Medhat, Like a Chef trainee from Baheya Foundation. “Going through cancer treatments wasn’t always easy. Sometimes you lose a little bit of yourself. This program gives back. Together, we become close like friends with a shared experience. And it gives us skills and self-confidence to know we can do so much.”

To learn more about Feed the Planet and the Like a Chef program, visit feedtheplanet.worldchefs.org. Visit Egypt Vision 2030 to read more about sustainable development and women empowerment programs in Egypt.

For more stories about the 1,000 lives changed by the Life a Chef initiative to date, click here.

Electrolux Food Foundation and Worldchefs Inspire Sustainable Cooking and Eating Through the Feed the Planet Partnership

• Electrolux Food Foundation has renewed as a Worldchefs Platinum Partner.
• A global founding partner of the Feed the Planet program, the independent, non-profit organization supports initiatives to inspire more sustainable food choices among consumers and professionals.
• Since 2016, the philanthropic partnership has grown into a dynamic collaborative effort for inspiring social change and supporting communities in need around the world, with Feed the Planet celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2022 and remarkable achievements in key initiatives. 

Paris, 1 of March 2023 – Worldchefs is pleased to announce a renewed philanthropic partnership with Electrolux Food Foundation, an independent, non-profit organization established and funded by Electrolux Group. A global founding partner of the Feed the Planet program since 2016, Electrolux Food Foundation has a mission of promoting healthier and more sustainable food choices among consumers and professionals through a variety of community-driven and global education initiatives. Together, the Foundation, and Worldchefs continue to create local and global impact in professional kitchens and at home, with collaboration on community support and a focus on social responsibility at the center of the partnership.

Feed the Planet was founded by Worldchefs in 2012 to educate, empower, and mobilize a global network of culinary professionals and drive sustainable change. Committed to building a more equitable and sustainable food system, Worldchefs joined forces with Electrolux Food Foundation and AIESEC, the world’s largest youth-led organization, in 2016. Since that time, Feed the Planet has grown into a dynamic collaborative effort for inspiring social change and supporting people in need in communities around the world.

“Feeding the world’s growing population is one of the greatest challenges of our time,” says Cosimo Scarano, Head of Electrolux Food Foundation. “Our partnership with Worldchefs means we unite under a shared vision to inspire thousands across the globe to make sustainable food choices. We are grateful and proud of all we’ve accomplished together and look forward to continuing this important work.”

Celebrating remarkable achievements through key Feed the Planet initiatives, Worldchefs’ Feed the Planet partnership with Electrolux Food Foundation and AIESEC has created local and global impact through diverse projects across cultures and continents. 

Food Heroes, a fun educational program for kids, has inspired over 88,000 children in more than 30 countries. Developed as part of UNICEF’s World’s Largest Lesson, the interactive one-hour workshop teaches and inspires young people to make better everyday food choices to contribute toward a healthier planet. Designed for children ages seven to eleven, the engaging open-source Food Heroes toolkit is available in 11 languages to raise awareness of the relationship between food and the planet among families all around the world. The Feed the Planet partnership aims to teach thousands more each year to eat more sustainably.

More than 1000 people have been trained through Like a Chef, an employment training program that provides underprivileged people with culinary workplace skills with a focus on sustainable cooking. The 10-week course has the objective to train a new generation of kitchen professionals by providing an extensive overview of cooking techniques and highlighting the importance of sustainability in the culinary industry. The program also includes additional soft skill training to increase the student’s chance of finding a job. With eight active training centers around the world and four more locations in development, Like a Chef is changing lives, helping individuals to build a new career path.

Over 9000 graduates have completed the Sustainability Education for Culinary Professionals curriculum, an innovative free course designed to teach chefs how to think and act sustainably. Available on Worldchefs Academy and delivered in culinary schools and training centers, the course is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic. Graduates earn a Worldchefs digital badge and certificate to show employers their commitment to professional growth and a more efficient kitchen. The program has also provided special leadership training to 84 Sustainability Education Trainers in over 80 countries. The partnership plans to train 5000 more students this year. 

Over 150 million viewers have explored diverse topics in sustainability and learned tools to apply sustainable thinking to their work in the food and beverage sector through Feed the Planet’s webcast series, Sustainability Around the World. Each episode shares stories of culinary professionals on their journey toward a more conscious kitchen. Replate.com, an online space that encourages more sustainable food habits, was also created by Electrolux Food Foundation, Worldchefs, and AIESEC to help fulfill Feed the Planet’s purpose of inspiring sustainable cooking and eating habits.  The online space features stats, stories, hacks, instructive cooking videos and recipes as well as five hands-on-tips that answer the question: ‘So, what can I do?’ – to eat more sustainably.

“Electrolux Food Foundation has provided Worldchefs with tremendous support, as well as a wonderful extension of the Worldchefs team. We are joined by inspiration, ambition, and a vision for a better future,” says Ragnar Fridricksson, Worldchefs Managing Director. “When I see what we have achieved since our first meeting with the Foundation, it is tremendous. It is with great pride that we continue this partnership and collaborate toward our shared mission.” 

Feed the Planet celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2022–a decade of empowering better cooking and eating habits through awareness and advocacy. The long-term target is based on Agenda 2030’s Sustainable Development Goal 12: Sustainable Production and Consumption, and Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals in order to contribute to sustainable cooking and eating habits around the world.

Learn more and get involved in Feed the Planet projects at www.feedtheplanet.worldchefs.org. To hear more on Feed the Planet’s history and future, Episode 24 of the Sustainability Around the World webcast is available here and revisits the partnerships’ journey, key learnings, and next actions toward a food-secure future.

Visit the Electrolux Food Foundation website here and explore Replate at replate.com.

Worldchefs to Host a Virtual Side-Event at UN Ocean Conference

• Worldchefs has been granted special accreditation to host a virtual side-event as part of the UN Ocean Conference. Co-hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Portugal, the UN Ocean Conference comes at a critical time as the world is seeking to address many of the deep-rooted problems of our societies laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic. To mobilize action, the Conference will seek to propel much needed science-based innovative solutions aimed at starting a new chapter of global ocean action.
• The 28 June side-event will explore how hospitality professionals can promote sustainable seafood consumption. Entitled Solutions for Food Services: Sustainable Seafood Consumption, the 30-minute expert-led discussion will cover topics around ocean pollution, overfishing, and non-sustainable aquaculture from the perspective of chefs. Free registration and more information on the event are available at https://worldchefs.org/event/sustainability-around-the-world-20/.
• Worldchefs Feed the Planet initiative promotes Goal 14 through various projects, notably Sustainability Education for Culinary Professionals, with a dedicated module on Seafood. The free e-learning course is recently launched on Worldchefs Academy, powered by Electrolux Food Foundation and Custom Culinary: https://worldchefsacademy.com/.

Paris, 21 of June 2022 – Worldchefs has been granted special accreditation to host a virtual side-event as part of the UN Ocean Conference. The hybrid Conference, 27 June to 1 July in Lisbon, Portugal, is organized under the overarching theme “Scaling up ocean action based on science and innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: stocktaking, partnerships and solutions.” Co-hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Portugal, the UN Ocean Conference comes at a critical time as the world is seeking to address many of the deep-rooted problems of our societies laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic and which will require major structural transformations and common shared solutions that are anchored in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Human activities are placing the health of the ocean in peril. According to the World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Global Climate in 2021 report, sea level rise, ocean heat, ocean acidification and greenhouse gas concentrations set new records in 2021. Additionally, marine pollution is increasing at an alarming rate, and if current trends continue, more than half of the world’s marine species may be all but extinct by 2100. To mobilize action, the Conference will seek to propel much needed science-based innovative solutions aimed at starting a new chapter of global ocean action.

Coinciding with the 20^th episode of the Sustainability Around the World webcast, Worldchefs’ 28 June side-event will explore how hospitality professionals can promote sustainable seafood consumption. Entitled Solutions for Food Services: Sustainable Seafood Consumption, the 30-minute expert-led discussion will cover topics around ocean pollution, overfishing, and non-sustainable aquaculture from the perspective of chefs. Sheila Bowman, Seafood Watch Manager of Culinary Initiatives at Monterey Bay Aquarium, will share insights on her team’s research and its potential use for culinary professionals. Registration is free and open at https://worldchefs.org/event/sustainability-around-the-world-20/.

Sustainability Around the World is part of Worldchefs Feed the Planet initiative, inspiring sustainable food consumption among communities and culinary professionals. Founded by Worldchefs, Feed the Planet is run in partnership with Electrolux Food Foundation and AIESEC. Feed the Planet promotes the SDGs through various projects, and Goal 14 most notably through the Sustainability Education for Culinary Professionals online course and curriculum, with a dedicated module on Seafood. The free e-learning course was recently launched on Worldchefs Academy, powered by Electrolux Food Foundation and Custom Culinary: https://worldchefsacademy.com/.

“Producing sustainable, nutritious foods and fighting climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, and chefs have an important role to play,” says Worldchefs President, Thomas Gugler. “We at Worldchefs believe that chefs have the power to make a real impact in their communities, and that ‘the power of the white jacket’ can help to change the way people eat, think, and share. We are honored to participate in the UN Oceans Conference to help mobilize action towards SDG 14.”

More information on the UN Ocean Conference is available at www.un.org/en/conferences/ocean2022.

For live updates, follow @worldchefs on Instagram and @WACSworldchefs on Twitter and Facebook, and follow the Conference hashtags #SaveOurOcean and #UNOC2022.

Photo credit: Joanna Smart, World Ocean Day Competition 2020

Banner photo credit: Beth Watson, World Ocean Day Competition 2016

#UNWorldOceansDay

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ABOUT WORLDCHEFS

The World Association of Chefs’ Societies, known as Worldchefs, is a federation made up of 110 national chef associations. A leading voice in the hospitality industry, Worldchefs carries years of history since its founding in 1928 at the Sorbonne by the venerable Auguste Escoffier. Representing a mobilized international membership of culinary professionals, Worldchefs is committed to advancing the profession and leveraging the influence of the chef jacket for the betterment of the industry and humanity at large.

Worldchefs is dedicated to raising culinary standards and social awareness through these core focus areas:

Education – Worldchefs offers support for education and professional development through the landmark Worldchefs Academy online training program, a diverse network of Worldchefs Education Partners and curriculum, and the world’s first Global Hospitality Certification recognizing on-the-job skills in hospitality; 

Networking – Worldchefs connects culinary professionals around the world through their online community platform and provides a gateway for industry networking opportunities through endorsed events and the biennial Worldchefs Congress & Expo;

Competition – Worldchefs sets global standards for competition rules, provides Competition Seminars and assurance of Worldchefs Certified Judges, and operates the prestigious Global Chefs Challenge;

Humanitarianism & Sustainability – Worldchefs Feed the Planet and World Chefs Without Borders programs relieve food poverty, deliver crisis support, and promote sustainability across the globe.

For more information about Worldchefs, visit us at www.worldchefs.org.

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