Best of Dig.ni.fy 2025 Special Issue | Page 62

from the Latin reficere, meaning ‘to re-make’, but also ‘to restore’. It was originally a place where monks gathered together to share their daily meal.

Since its founding in 2016, Food for Soul has “collaboratively opened Refettorio projects worldwide in Milan, Modena, Naples,

Bologna, London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Merida,

Lima, San Francisco, Geneva, Harlem, and Sydney through nonprofit partnerships in

country that both amplify existing programs while introducing food recovery and food assistance programs that support a food system sustainability.” Each project is developed within the Food for Soul’s framework and community-based impact model, yet each takes on its own “unique DNA” from the beneficiaries and community-based organizations with which it works.

Food for Soul will continue to partner with a variety of stakeholders to develop new Refettorio projects in the Americas, Asia, EU and UK.

The result is documented success.

Food for Soul’s food model, for example, “aims to reduce food loss and waste while improving food insecurity through ongoing advocacy efforts at home and as food assistance to guests in Refettorio projects around the world.” To date, it has saved more than 670 tons of food worldwide.

Food for Soul – in an effort to prepare nourishing meals with hospitality and dignity – has also provided more than 1.53 million meals, “both served around a convivial table inside the iconic cultural hubs and distributed out into the community with the support of allied solidarity partners.”

And, with a goal of offering people a place of belonging through which “to share the power of beauty with social inclusion,” Food for Soul has served over 850 people as “guests.” These are

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