FEED Community | Good Practice

GOOD PRACTICE

A social enterprise working on national and international initiatives (training, organisation of fairs, network for farmers) to promote and preserve Lebanese culinary traditions, rural heritage, and environment

Lebanon

Period

2004 - in progress

Founded in 2004, Souk El Tayeb began as a farmers’ market in Lebanon, fostering unity post-civil war. Through programs, festivals, and restaurants, it empowers women, farmers, and local communities. With national and international partnerships, it preserves culinary traditions and rural heritage while promoting inclusive living. It supports sustainable practices through diverse projects, showcasing Lebanon's rich culture and fostering social cohesion.

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Identification needs

The large organization that now exists as Souk El Tayeb began in 2004, when Kamal Mouzawak established a farmers market to promote the growers and producers of Lebanon's food, and provide them with a regular platform through which to earn money from their products, while using it as a unique opportunity to bring together communities that had been fractured by 15 years of civil war.

Stakeholder change

Support to women, farmers, growers & producers and local communities; national, regional and international partnerships. The restaurant employs dozens of women from villages across Lebanon, who take turns designing menus that showcase their own local dishes. For many of these women, working at Tawlet was a turning point, allowing them to move their families to the city and put their children through school, or simply giving them the chance to be appreciated for their invaluable culinary knowledge.

Change triggered

Souk el Tayeb offers assistance and support to the communities of Lebanon, through: Capacity Building Program (CBP) in partnership with organizations including (but not limited to) the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and the Women's Program Association (WPA), where we encourage entrepreneurship and small business development by offering beneficiaries the opportunity to gain theoretical and practical knowledge and skills from chefs and experts in all aspects of business. Aasha el Tayeb, "happy food for those in need" is a traveling kitchen that partners with NGOs providing the underprivileged groups and communities they support with dinner in a joyful, nurturing, and safe environment. Food & Feast are regional food festivals held throughout Lebanon and offer another way in which people are able to connect with the farmers and producers that feed them, while celebrating and preserving local heritage and food culture. Beits are passion projects, where we preserve and restore old Lebanese homes and buildings. They provide a means of employment for members of local communities, whether that be through contract work, as regular employees, or through the use of local furniture, decor, textiles, and art.

Short description

A social entreprise working on national and international projects to promote and preserve culinary traditions, rural heritage and the natural environment. Since its inception it has expanded into an innovative social enterprise with a diverse range of national and international projects, all working in different ways to develop and preserve culinary traditions, rural heritage, and the natural environment in Lebanon, to provide necessary support to the women, farmers, and local communities that sustain them, while encouraging peaceful, supportive, interfaith living. The land, the people, the history, the food, and local traditions in Lebanon are the foundations of Souk El Tayeb. The Souk El Tayeb family includes: the Farmers' Market, a daily showcase of producers and farmers with a large Saturday farmers' market, Tawlet, restaurants where cooks from all over Lebanon tell their stories and traditions through their cuisine, Beit, guest homes highlighting regional traditions, Dekenet, the farmers' store, promoting products from the farmers' market and Tawlet kitchen, and Matbakh El Kell, born in aftermath of the August 4 Beirut port explosion to feed those in need. https://www.soukeltayeb.com/organization

#Traditional food #Rural communities