Catalyst Kitchen

In response to the closure of our dining experiences and cafes, we redesigned our food insecurity programme ‘Catalyst Kitchen’ to produce and deliver a food lifeline to those most in need. When we began this project, we estimated that it would help 300 people in one year. Since this redesign, Catalyst Kitchen has served 100,971 meals to 741 people supporting, on average, 320 individuals in need, per week. Meals are delivered throughout West Lothian by a team of volunteers once a week, providing 4 meals per person, per week. Though the end of the Coronavirus pandemic is in sight, the need for this project remains high. Food insecurity rose significantly across Scotland during the pandemic with a 45% increase in the demand for food banks. For too long, the answer to food insecurity has been foodbanks, an answer which provides cheap food at little to no nutritional value. With this, there is no choice, no control and no dignity and too often the poorest people get the poorest choices. We provide quality, nutritious meals as a method of disrupting this national standard of care. This project has and continues to be described as “a lifeline”, “revolutionary”, “invaluable”, “life changing”.