Every once in a while, someone comes up with an idea that is so simple, yet so great that it makes us go – now why hasn’t someone thought of this yet! The simplicity and the giving nature of this idea is sure to make your heart warm up. Resident of Cochin, Minu Pauline had a great idea – that of a fridge filled with goodness; an idea that has filled many stomachs and will hopefully inspire others to fill many more.
Pappadavada, the Kerala cuisine restaurant with a difference
Minu Pauline worked with a bank and then another organisation for seven years before she chucked it up to follow her real passion. She started a restaurant called Pappadavada that is described as an ethnic tea shop. The restaurant is named for the local delicacy that consists of papads dipped in a rice batter and then fried and brings the best of Kerala cuisine to discerning foodies.
Going back home after shutting shop for the night, she would see needy people sifting through the garbage in search of anything edible. So she decided that she and her restaurant would make a difference – to her paying customers as well as non paying people who had been managing with slate or leftover food. So when the second restaurant of the chain was recently launched, it came along with a large fridge placed just outside the restaurant.
A fridge called Nanma Maram (The Tree of Goodness)
While most restaurants have a fridge inside, Minu’s restaurant also has a fridge outside. This is a 420 litre fridge that is kept stocked with about 50 packets of food. Anyone is free to help themselves to food from the fridge. If someone wants, they can also leave food there so that someone in need can utilise it. The idea is to give people access to fresh, edible food and not stale food. So if someone puts food inside they put a date on it to indicate when they did so.
Minu says that she trusts people to do the right thing and has faith that her fridge of goodness will not be misused by those not in need. More than simply feeding those who may otherwise go hungry or have to rummage for waste food; Minu hopes that this fridge of hers will send out a message and trigger a movement to increase awareness. She hopes that people will be more mindful of the food they waste and that they will try to do their bit for others less fortunate than them.
Share, don’t waste is the message Minu and her fridge of goodness send out – great idea, wouldn’t you say?
Image courtesy Minu Pauline Facebook page unless specified
