Our Table Community Food Award BY ALI DUNWORTH
attention to the realities of those living in Direct Provision. They began by running a series of pop-up activities aimed at generating awareness about conditions within the Direct Provision system, firstly opening a café in Project Arts Centre. This proved to be very successful and garnered them some much-needed press attention. They went on to run pop-ups and take part in events at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Christchurch Cathedral and at various festivals. The catering events and pop-up jobs had the added advantage of providing immigrants with employment and helping them to develop their culinary and hospitality skills. Our Table has continued to cater and run pop-up events, create nurturing and empathic spaces where people can learn
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e often talk of the power of connecting through food. The simple act of sharing a meal can bring people together and it’s exactly this philosophy that inspired Ellie Kisyombe and Michelle Darmody to set up Our Table in 2016. Malawian Ellie, a former asylum seeker, met café owner and food writer Michelle Darmody while doing volunteer work in the Irish Refugee Council. They bonded over food and their outrage at how deeply flawed the system of Direct Provision is, with Ellie having first hand experience of living through it herself. Together they set up Our Table, a community-based, social enterprise where they fixed on using food as a way to connect, start a conversation and draw
THIS IS FOR ALL OF US ASYLUM SEEKERS HERE IN IRELAND. IT MEANS A LOT.
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