Community kitchens to open

National Catholic Reporter, August 1, 2003 by Dennis Coday

MEXICO CITY -- Faced with 40,000 Mexican children dying from malnutrition every year, the Mexican bishop's conference is launching a campaign to set up community kitchens in poor neighborhoods across the country.

The National Solidarity Campaign, to be officially launched Aug. 20, will create community kitchens that will provide food for children between 1 and 12 years old in at least 16 dioceses.

"Making sure people don't go hungry is the duty of the government. But when the government doesn't do its job, the church has to act," said Sr. Ludmila Garcia Locon, an organizer.

In Mexico, 54 million people live below the poverty level and 20 million of them live in extreme poverty, according to official statistics.

The kitchens will be based on a model developed in Brazil--a country with a similar culture and problems of poverty. The church will provide space and pots and pans, while mothers will be invited to cook one day a week at a cost of about $1 per day per child.