✨ Update from Gaza Soup Kitchen ✨

November 3, 2025, by Gaza Soup Kitchen, Beneficiary

"Hello, and welcome — you have been missed. I hope you’ve been well. Let’s dive into an update and share a snapshot of the #GazaSoupKitchen’s work in Gaza.

We currently operate six kitchens serving the public — two in #KhanYounes, and four in the stretch between #AlZawaydah and #DeirElBalah. Additionally, we have a dedicated location in the #AlNaser neighborhood of Gaza City that prepares meals for hospitals.

Our work is supported by three mobile teams, each with a specific mission:

The first team visits hospitals, delivering fresh produce, care packages, clothing, and sometimes baby formula and diapers for newborns.

The second team goes directly into makeshift camps, showing up with whatever they can source — whether food or clothing — to meet the immediate needs of families living in extreme conditions.

The third team serves dinner at #AlShifaHospital, bringing baked goods and meals for about 100 patients every day.

Recently, we pivoted to blanket distribution. So far, we’ve distributed 200 blankets, with 300 more on hand, and our goal is to source at least 1,000 this month, getting them directly to families. Alongside blankets, we’ve added hygiene kits to support families’ basic needs.

Two days ago, we opened registration for families in need of food parcels, and we’ve already signed up 15,700 families across Gaza. Our goal is to distribute these within two and a half weeks. Each food parcel costs around $27, which covers staples; prices fluctuate between $60 and $179 depending on availability, making it especially challenging for families with no resources — which, unfortunately, is the case for most.

This is a massive effort, requiring a dedicated and resilient team. To enhance registration and distribution, we expanded the pickup locations from three to six, covering areas from #Rafah (#Mawasy) to the north of #GazaCity, with deliveries starting tomorrow. A guiding principle for us is simple: every dollar goes directly to helping people in Gaza. We don’t let bank accounts dictate our work; we tackle urgent needs head-on, and we’ve been incredibly fortunate to have your support.

Beyond food, we continue to run our classroom with Ms. Fatema, bringing children back to learning and growth. We also added a Play Therapy program, held every other day, helping 25 children engage in play, snacks, singing, and moments of pure childhood joy — something they desperately need to feel safe and free again.

On a broader note, I recently spoke in Philadelphia to a group of elderly Jewish citizens, a deeply humane and uplifting experience. Unlike my usual audiences of younger activists, this mature audience engaged with sincerity and care, reminding me how dialogue across generations and communities can be meaningful and inspiring.

On a personal level, expanding our work comes with emotional weight. Every week, thousands of families write to us asking for help. When they don’t hear back immediately, frustration turns into anger and, sometimes, insults. I understand their pain deeply, but processing it adds an extra layer of grief. And yet, we keep pressing forward, because the fire to serve and protect the vulnerable never goes out.

Thank you for being here and standing with us. Many have stepped away during the recent ceasefire, taking a chance to rest, but for us, the work cannot pause. Families remain hesitant to return to their homes in #BaitLahia, where the streets feel eerie and unsafe. Violence continues to flare from Israeli forces and some of their proxies who still appear in the area. The trauma lingers, the fear is real, and yet the people of Gaza persist.

It is far from over — and that’s why we keep showing up, delivering food, blankets, care, and hope. Together, we light a small beacon in the midst of unimaginable darkness.

P. S. We remain active in delivering clean drinking water trucks to different communities. We average eight to ten trucks daily."

Donate:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/Hot-meals-in-gaza-daily

#NorthGaza #GazaAid #GazaFundraisers #FreePalestine #Fundraisers #FoodIsLife #WaterIsLife #GoFundMe #BeitLahiya #BaitLahiya #KhanYounes #Palestine #Genocide #Starvation #IsraeliWarCrimes #NorthernGaza
Remember #ChefMahmoud
#HumanRightsAreNeverWrong #IsraeliWarCrimes #BibiIsAWarCriminal

Happy World Food Day 16 October, 2025 2025 Theme: "Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future". Today marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

#WorldFoodDay #WorldFoodDay2025 #foodday #food #foodislife #righttofood #righttofoodishumanright #sustainablefood #betterfuture #forfuture #forthefuture #foodsecurity #endhunger #stophunger #hunger #sustainable #sustainability #raiseawareness #raisingawareness #sofiaflorina #ソフィアフロリナ

🍞 Buongiorno chic! Oggi si celebra la Giornata Mondiale dell’Alimentazione 🌍🥐 Scoprite l’articolo fresco di colazione su Perfettamente Chic: curiosità, ironia e colazioni dal mondo!

👉 Leggi ora sul blog 💫

#WorldFoodDay #GiornataMondialeAlimentazione #CiboChic #ColazionePerfetta #Sostenibilità #CiboCondiviso #PerfettamenteChic #FoodIsLife #16Ottobre #CiboConAmore #CulturaDelCibo #ColazioneGlobale #CiboCreativo #CiboFelice #CiboElegante

http://perfettamentechic.com/2025/10/16/112272/

✨ Update from Gaza Soup Kitchen ✨

October 7th, 2025 by Hani Almadhoun, Organizer

"Dear friends,

The past two months have been intense — conference season, media engagements, live on ABC Prime News (link below), and a conversation with The New Arab. Through it all, Gaza has been front and center. I want to give you a clear look at what your support is making possible — and the scale of what remains to be done.

Gaza City:
Roughly 200,000 people are trapped in Gaza City, facing an unknown future. Every day, our teams push into neighborhoods that are cut off, even attempting water deliveries in extreme conditions. We advise them, we worry, but they refuse to leave — this is their home, and they have nothing left elsewhere. For their safety and the community’s, we keep their identities and locations secret, yet still ensure aid reaches those who need it most.

Kitchens & Meals:
Across eight kitchens in the middle and south of Gaza, we are cooking eggplants, potatoes, traditional dishes, and pasta, serving hundreds of families daily. One kitchen alone reaches 500 families, and our teams keep pushing for extra water deliveries wherever possible. Prices are cooling slightly in the south, but in Gaza City, food costs are skyrocketing, and supplies are vanishing. We don’t pause — we keep delivering.

Food Parcels & Care Packages:
Since our last update, we’ve delivered 25,000+ food parcels and care packages. Last month alone, your generosity put over $500,000 directly into Gaza to feed families, support hospitals, and sustain life under siege.

We operate two flexible initiative teams:

1. Hospital Care Team: Prioritizing children suffering from acute malnutrition at Al-Aqsa Hospital.

2. Makeshift Community Team: Led by my mom and Alaa (Chef Mahmoud’s widow), delivering 30–50 care packages at a time to displaced families in makeshift communities — sometimes food, sometimes hygiene kits, always based on urgent need.

Transparency & Accountability:
We’ve been experimenting with open registration for food parcels in Gaza City. When we offered a link for 75 families, 233 families signed up in under two minutes, leaving many temporarily without aid. We publish exactly what’s in each parcel and the prices we pay, so the community sees every action we take. Your donations fuel this transparency, safety, and reach.

Bottom line: Supplies are tight. Prices are climbing. Access is dangerous. But your support keeps food on tables, water in homes, and care packages in hands. You’re keeping hope alive in a place where hope is under constant attack. May this genocide come to an end soon.

Thank you for standing with Gaza — for standing with the people who have nothing left but each other."

Donate:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/Hot-meals-in-gaza-daily

ABC news reel:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPhuNiaDoY-/?igsh=MXRoaXVteHNvOHRqbA==

#NorthGaza #GazaAid #GazaFundraisers #FreePalestine #Fundraisers #FoodIsLife #WaterIsLife #GoFundMe #BeitLahiya #BaitLahiya #KhanYounes #Palestine #Genocide #Starvation #IsraeliWarCrimes #NorthernGaza
Remember #ChefMahmoud
#HumanRightsAreNeverWrong #IsraeliWarCrimes #BibiIsAWarCriminal

✨ Update from Gaza Soup Kitchen ✨

September 4th, 2025 by Hani Almadhoun, Organizer

"Hi friends,

If you are new here, welcome! My name is Hani, co-founder of the Gaza Soup Kitchen. For those regulars, thank you ✊

Right now we have 7 kitchens running in and around Gaza City , 5 water trucks delivering fresh water every morning , and our health clinic is still seeing patients .

Sadly, our classroom was bombed —but we’ve pivoted to something bigger:

✅ Delivered 4,250 food parcels so far

Another 2,550 parcels ready to go

In the middle area, we delivered 600 parcels and opened a new kitchen

We keep showing up for hospitals with meals

Each food parcel = 40–60 meals. It’s not just about helping one family—it feeds whole networks of relatives, neighbors, and displaced people.

In doing this, we’re also showing the world (and the bad actors watching us) that you can give away a lot of food in Gaza without harming Palestinians. Our signage makes that crystal clear.

One moving moment: we’ve been operating from inside an Orthodox and Catholic church (اتحاد الكنائس ) . Families shelter there, and they benefit from the food too. Our young team—many who had never met a Christian before—are learning about unity and friendship in real time. Feeding people from a church feels like something Jesus himself would have blessed.

We hear the drones above us, and we know they don’t like what we’re doing. But we’ll keep feeding as long as we’re allowed.

Our system works: families sign up on a link , we close it when full, assemble the food, and text pickup times. No chaos, no exploitation—just neighbors helping neighbors. Each distribution serves 500–1,000 people with dignity.

You give us confidence , even as we worry for our team’s safety every single day. I am tired of asking for prayers… but somehow it’s still comforting to do so.

Thank you for being with us. Together, we are saving lives, it's not a slogan it's our daily reality.

—Hani & the Gaza Soup Kitchen Team"

Donate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/Hot-meals-in-gaza-daily

#NorthGaza #GazaAid #GazaFundraisers #FreePalestine #Fundraisers #FoodIsLife #WaterIsLife #GoFundMe #BeitLahiya #BaitLahiya #KhanYounes #Palestine #Genocide #Starvation #IsraeliWarCrimes #NorthernGaza
Remember #ChefMahmoud
#HumanRightsAreNeverWrong #IsraeliWarCrimes #BibiIsAWarCriminal

Bryonys Rustic Cottage Pie with Skin-On Mash!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DOTh8tBCNZY/

#homemadefood #homecooking #homecook #madefromscratchwithlove #comfortfood
#familydinner #sundaylunch #dinnerideas #lunchideas #healthfood #healthyrecipe
#cookingwithlove #familymealprep #foodie #bonebroth #foodporn #familymealtime #micronutrients #beansandgreens #cottagepiewithatwist #eatyourgreens #foodblogger #cottagepie
#foodlovers #cookingathome❤️ #foodgasm #ñomñom #foodlove #foodaddict
#foodislife

#Wabanaki Sustenance and Self-Determination

by Jillian Kerr
7 November 2024

"Before colonization, the Wabanaki region was rich in food; Wabanaki Tribes had excellent knowledge of their environment and knew where to find each resource, when it was abundant, and in what quantities. They utilized natural resources and foods respectfully, creating little or no waste. This sustainable approach to food and natural resources made the Wabanaki among the healthiest people in the world. However, the arrival of Europeans disrupted this harmony, forcing the Wabanaki out of their homelands. Europeans imposed a different understanding of nature and harvesting, which led to unhealthy and unsustainable practices. The Wabanaki continue to strive for the restoration of their traditional foodways as a way to practice #FoodSovereignty.

"To develop food sovereignty and economic stability, the #Mikmaq Nation in Aroostook County constructed an indoor #FishHatchery on the site of Micmac Farms in #CaribouME. This farm, which previously only grew and sold fresh or preserved fruits and vegetables, now receives #Nesowadnehunk #BrookTrout eggs from the Maine State Hatchery in Enfield, Maine. The grown fish are then sold back to Maine’s Soil and Water Conservation District for public consumption throughout the state. In addition, they generously donate food to the local #FoodBank and provide discounts for Tribal members, demonstrating a #sustainable model for food sovereignty for the Mi’kmaq Nation.

"The #HoultonBandOfMaliseet Indians launched a food sovereignty initiative to increase access to nutritious food, improve food sovereignty, and strengthen connections to Wabanaki culture by sharing traditional food production, storage, and preparation approaches. The lessons learned add to current knowledge about developing, implementing, and evaluating a model rooted in the principles of food sovereignty.

"Opportunities to learn and share knowledge about traditional storage and recipes are provided to community members, and existing partnerships have been leveraged to develop a sustainable model. Additional #CommunityGardens were also created to increase food production capacity, increasing food sovereignty for the Maliseet.

"One way the #Passamaquoddy Tribe fights for food sovereignty is by restoring the watershed of the #SkutikRiver, which was renamed the St. Croix River by colonists. The Skutik River is at the heart of the ancestral home of the Passamaquoddy Tribe.. This crucial watershed is the natural spawning ground and ancient homeland for many species of sea-run fish, including Atlantic #salmon and sea-run #alewife (river herring), a vital food source. Historically, the number of fish swimming up the Skutik River was massive and sustained the Passamaquoddy for thousands of years. Yet now, the alewife population is too small to feed or sustain the Tribe.

"The large amount of pollution produced by #colonization upset the productivity and natural balance of the Skutik River and the life cycles of the native fishery, straining the river’s #ecosystem. For many years, Maine law blocked sea-run alewives from accessing their natural and ancient spawning ground in the Skutik watershed, which diminished this important traditional sustenance food source and disturbed the cultural practices of Passamaquoddy Tribal members. The Passamaquoddy established the Skutik Watershed Strategic Sea-run Fish and #RiverRestoration Plan to mitigate the damage and find a better way forward. They developed a collaborative of Skutik stewards, also known as the Skutik River Keepers, who work with various agencies to give the river the best chance at restoring the watershed, thereby giving the Passamaquoddy more access to traditional foods and strengthening their food sovereignty.

"The #PenobscotNation fights for food sovereignty in various ways, including rebuilding outlets on Tribal trust lands. The Penobscot ancestral homeland is located within the drainage area of the Penobscot River and its many tributaries, lakes, and ponds. The area was the fishing place for spearing and netting fish, like salmon and alewives. It was a primary nourishing source of food, medicine, connection, joy, and spirituality for the Penobscot during spring and early summer. The mills and mill dams built by colonizers upset the river's natural ecosystem, cutting off fish from places required to complete their life cycle. As a result, the river no longer contained the fish that had historically fed the Penobscot Tribe. The Penobscot successfully rebuilt outlets on Tribal trust lands in #MattamiscontisStream, and they have completed many stream connectivity projects. This resulted in growing populations of alewives and blueback herring in the newly restored system, making more fish available as a food source for the Tribe.

"The land is a cornerstone of Native life. Before colonization, Wabanaki Tribes had developed an environmentally friendly and communal food system to protect the land and environment, using natural resources without harming the environment that provided bountiful food sources. However, centuries of colonization have separated the Wabanaki and other Native communities from their homelands and traditional foods. Natives were physically, culturally, and spiritually tied to their homelands, and forced relocation into unknown lands made it impossible to access traditional foods and harvest adequate nutrition from the land for survival. The lack of knowledge of unknown lands led to a dependence on government-issued rations and commodities. These rations and commodities consisted of dairy, processed wheat, sugars, etc., all foreign to the Native diet. The government's aim in providing these rations and commodities to Natives was not to provide nutrition but to prevent starvation.

"Forced relocation and other federal policies devastated many Tribes’ food systems, disrupting their hunting, fishing, farming, and harvesting traditions. The disruption continues today as the federal government still decides what foods they will distribute to Native communities. The government also makes agreements with the producers, a system that favors large-scale vendors, leading to missed opportunities for Native farmers. Problems with food quality also still exist; many traditional foods are still unavailable, and it is not uncommon for produce to travel long distances and arrive spoiled. Despite this upheaval, the Wabanaki have shown remarkable resilience and are determined to restore their traditional food practices and reclaim their food sovereignty."

Source:
https://www.wabanakireach.org/wabanaki_sustenance_and_self_determination_by_jillian_kerr

Article Sources:

https://sites.bu.edu/nephtc/2022/02/18/the-maliseet-food-sovereignty-initiative-partnership-to-promote-food-sovereignty-and-food-security/

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5dc48452ab6a5e7a070677aa/t/652417f4cd600e0f8a1dc638/1696864244899/Wabanaki-Foodways.pdf

https://thefishsite.com/articles/tales-from-a-tribal-trout-farm

https://www.fws.gov/story/2022-06/saving-st-croix

https://www.fws.gov/story/working-tribes-restore-fish-passage

https://www.penobscotnation.org/departments/department-of-natural-resources/fisheries

#SolarPunkSunday #TraditionalFoods
#Sovereignty #IndigenousSovereignty #IndigenousFoodSovereignty #IndigeousAgriculture #BuildingCommunity #CulturalPreservation #LandConservation #WaterIsLife #FoodIsLife #IndigenousPeoplesDay

#WildRice and the #Ojibwe

by Jessica Milgroom

"Wild rice is a food of great historical, spiritual, and cultural importance for Ojibwe people. After colonization disrupted their traditional food system, however, they could no longer depend on stores of wild rice for food all year round. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, this traditional staple was appropriated by white entrepreneurs and marketed as a gourmet commodity. Native and non-Native people alike began to harvest rice to sell it for cash, threatening the health of the natural stands of the crop. This lucrative market paved the way for domestication of the plant, and farmers began cultivating it in paddies in the late 1960s. In the twenty-first century, many Ojibwe and other Native people are fighting to sustain the hand-harvested wild rice tradition and to protect wild rice beds.

"Ojibwe people arrived in present-day Minnesota in the 1600s after a long migration from the east coast of the United States that lasted many centuries. Together with their #Anishinaabe kin, the Potawatomi and Odawa, they followed a vision that told them to search for their homeland in a place 'where the food floats on water.' The Ojibwe recognized this as the wild rice they found growing around Lake Superior (Gichigami), and they settled on the sacred site of what is known today as Madeline Island (#Mooningwaanekaaning).

"In the Ojibwe language, wild rice (Zizania palustris) is called manoomin, which is related by analogy to a word (minomin) meaning 'good berry.'” It is a highly nutritious wild grain that is gathered from lakes and waterways by canoe in late August and early September, during the wild rice moon (manoominike giizis).

"Before contact with Europeans and as late as the early twentieth century, Ojibwe people depended on wild rice as a crucial part of their diet, together with berries, fish, meat, vegetables, and maple sugar. They moved their camps throughout the year, depending on the activities of seasonal food gathering. In autumn, families moved to a location close to a lake with a promising stand of wild rice and stayed there for the duration of the season.

[...]

RESTORATION AND REGULATION

"As far back as the 1930s, the health of wild rice beds has been a serious concern. In 1939 Minnesota passed a law outlawing mechanized harvest and limiting how and when wild rice could be harvested. Since then, it has enacted other protective policies, including limiting the number of hours in the day during which it is permissible to rice and limiting the length of the canoe used for ricing. In the 1990s, wild rice was identified as an endangered food. The plant is sensitive to water levels altered by dams as well as road construction, pollution, poor harvesting practices, invasive species, genetic engineering (genetic contamination of the wild rice from the paddies), and climate change.

"In response to these threats, Ojibwe and other Native people organized. For example, in 1994, the Fond du Lac and Bois Forte bands developed a '#WildRiceRestorationPlan for the St. Louis River Watershed' designed to restore lost stands of the crop and manage its harvest. In the same decade, the company Native Harvest (part of the White Earth Land Recovery Project) began to sell hand-harvested wild rice, and multiple bands formed reservation wild-rice committees to manage harvests.

"In the 2020s, Ojibwe people continue to defend and protect this vital plant and the cultural, health, and spiritual importance that it holds. Individuals as well as tribes organize ricing camps to teach traditional practices of ricing, parching, and finishing. Others are actively fighting against the Enbridge #Line3 #OilPipeline replacement project that would cross wild rice habitat, or collaborating in a movement for Native food sovereignty."

https://www3.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/thing/wild-rice-and-ojibwe

#SolarPunkSunday #FoodSovereignty #WaterIsLife #FoodIsLife #NativeAmericanFoodSovereignty #FoodSovereignty #Foodsecurity #TraditionalFoods #IndigenousPeoplesDay #IndigenousFood