Meals such as savoury mince, chicken and bean stew, butternut curry and fish pie are cooked by Pebbles Kitchen. Meals are then frozen and distributed by Pebbles Project in one kilogram bags to communities in and around Stellenbosch. PHOTO: Anna Lusty
Boschendal Wine Estate has partnered with a local non-profit organisation to help feed vulnerable communities within the Dwarsrivier Valley.
The partnership between Boschendal and Pebbles Project commenced on 6 April, and involves Boschendal donating fresh produce to the Pebbles Kitchen, said Wilmien Wicomb, in-house counsel and community organiser at Boschendal.
Boschendal’s donations are then used to prepare meals and food packs, which are distributed within the Kylemore, Lanquedoc and Meerlust Bosbou areas, said Wicomb.
According to Wicomb, Pebbles Kitchen prepares around 1 600 meals a week for Lanquedoc and Kylemore, two communities surrounding Boschendal. Along with this, Pebbles Kitchen is preparing about 75 food parcels a week for Meerlust Bosbou, she said.
“Trying to keep getting food into the valley is first priority for us,” Wicomb said.
A larger feeding scheme
The collaboration between Pebbles Project and Boschendal is part of a larger emergency feeding scheme that Pebbles Project has been operating in and around Stellenbosch during the lockdown, said Dominic Johnson-Allen, consultant for new projects at Pebbles.
It was under this larger feeding scheme, and between cooked meals and food packs, that Pebbles Project was able to prepare and distribute around 145 000 meals throughout Stellenbosch during the month of April, said Johnson-Allen.
“The relationship with Boschendal came quite early in this emergency feeding scheme,” Johnson-Allen said.
Boschendal’s hospitality division has been unable to operate during the lockdown, so to make good use of their large farming operation, they decided to channel most of their fresh produce to the Pebbles Project, said Wicomb.
Boschendal’s hospitality division has been unable to operate during the lockdown. To make good use of their large farming operation, the wine estate has decided to channel most of its fresh produce to the Pebbles Project. PHOTO: Boschendal/Website
“It was clear that our fresh produce would be unable to go to the restaurant, so we decided to divert all of that to try and get food into the [Dwarsrivier] Valley. That’s when we teamed up with Pebbles Project,” said Wicomb.
Boschendal donates minced beef, farm vegetables and close to a thousand eggs each week, which Pebbles Kitchen uses in either their cooked meals or food packs, said Johnson-Allen.
“We are cooking things like beef stew, savoury mince, chicken and bean stew, butternut curry and fish pie, which we freeze and distribute in one kilogram bags,” added Johnson-Allen.
Boschendal is diverting most of its fresh produce to the Pebbles Project, who are preparing 1 600 meals and 75 food parcels per week for Dwarsrivier communities. PHOTO: Boschendal/Website
Grateful communities
The donations that Meerlust Bosbou has been receiving from the collaboration has helped the community counteract some of the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Johanna Williams, who is responsible for overseeing the distribution of donations within the Meerlust Bosbou community.
“People are really relying on these donations that we get from Boschendal and Pebbles, so we are very grateful for the help they give us,” added Williams.
Boschendal donates minced beef, farm vegetables and close to a thousand eggs each week, which Pebbles Kitchen uses in either their cooked meals or food packs, said Johnson-Allen. PHOTO: Boschendal/Website