{"id":44962,"date":"2019-01-30T11:25:05","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T14:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=44962"},"modified":"2019-03-20T10:47:58","modified_gmt":"2019-03-20T13:47:58","slug":"favela-organica-in-babilonia-and-chapeu-mangueira-sustainablefavelanetwork-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=44962","title":{"rendered":"A Feast on Watermelon Rinds and Banana Peels: Favela Org\u00e2nica [PROFILE] #SustainableFavelaNetwork"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique\u00a0aqui\u00a0para Portugu\u00eas<\/a><\/em><\/a><\/em><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Initiative<\/strong><\/span>: Favela Org\u00e2nica
\nContact<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0Facebook<\/a> | Website<\/a> | Email<\/a>
\nYear Founded<\/u><\/strong>: 2011
\nCommunity<\/u><\/strong>: Babil\u00f4nia and Chap\u00e9u-Mangueira, South Zone
\nMission<\/u><\/strong>: Valuing and sharing the food cycle through respect and love for what nature gives us
\nPublic Events<\/u><\/strong>: Favela Org\u00e2nica hosts workshops for adults and children on the appreciation of food and cooking, planting vegetable gardens, and yoga.
\nHow to Contribute<\/u><\/strong>: Participate in events, volunteer, and financially support the initiative.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Regina Tchelly always wanted to be a different kind of cook. For Tchelly, who is originally from the state of Para\u00edba in Brazil’s Northeast, consciousness about food waste was always an aspect of life. \u201cIn Para\u00edba, it\u2019s common to plant, harvest, and use food to its full extent, so people don\u2019t throw food away,\u201d Tchelly describes.<\/p>\n

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In 2001, Tchelly moved to Rio de Janeiro’s Babil\u00f4nia<\/a> favela and started working as a maid. She noticed that many people in Rio did not know how to manage their own consumption. \u201cThe first thing that really caught my attention here in Rio de Janeiro was the quantity of food waste at outdoor markets,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n

Knowing that she wanted to make a change, in 2011 Tchelly applied for a R$10,000 (US$2,500) grant from\u00a0Ag\u00eancia de Redes para a Juventude<\/a> (Networks for Youth Agency), an initiative that provides training and resources for young people to develop<\/a> community-based projects in Rio de Janeiro. Although her project was approved in the initial stages, Tchelly was not ultimately selected as a grant recipient.<\/p>\n

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Tchelly, now 37, did not give up. Less than a month later, from her house in Babil\u00f4nia\u00a0in Rio’s South Zone<\/a>, she started Favela Org\u00e2nica\u2014a project that seeks to reduce waste and change people\u2019s relationship with food. \u201cI started with R$140 (US$35) and six mothers,\u201d Tchelly describes. The community supported her efforts and attended her workshops: \u201cThe second week there were ten [mothers], the third there were fifteen, the fourth there were forty, and so the project grew.”<\/p>\n

Today, with more than 500 unique recipes, it\u2019s not just Rio\u2019s community that gets nourished by her food. Tchelly receives volunteers from other favelas in Rio, other cities in Brazil, and from around the world. She has given workshops and talks abroad in France, Italy, Argentina,\u00a0and Uruguay, in addition to participating in events like the Rio+20 United Nations\u00a0Conference on Sustainable Development<\/a>\u00a0as part of the Favela as a Sustainable Model film<\/a> produced to premiere at the conference in 2012.<\/p>\n

In 2017, Tchelly even launched her own television show on Canal Futura, Amor de Cozinha<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(“Cooking Love” or “Love to Cook”)\u2014reflecting her accomplishment in being recognized as a worldwide reference for sustainable consumption.<\/p>\n