Food For Thought provides an exciting space for people from different backgrounds to share their life stories. We want to enable people to learn from and be inspired by each other’s experiences through storytelling in a safe, stimulating and inclusive social environment.

The idea stems from the belief that each one of us has a unique life story that’s worth sharing and from which we can learn a lot. The idea also resonates with the saying: I tell my story, therefore, I am.

Food For Thought enables refugee and migrant chefs in Denmark to share their knowledge and stories with other like-minded community members, including both locals and internationals. This is done by making food that is representative of their culture, eating together, listening to a story and telling each other stories in an informal setting.

Food For Thought has witnessed positive developments in many ways. The name Spisdating has recently been changed to Food For Thought and, whereas in 2017 Food For Thought had two events, this year the number has increased to 20, both in the number of participants and the diversity of their cultural and professional backgrounds. Considering the average number of attendees of each event is about 25, the total number of beneficiaries is around 500 persons! Thanks to the strategic location of the Ubuntu House, Food For Thought is attracting more and more guests. Like the participants, the speakers come from wide-ranging backgrounds such as Canada, the Congo, Denmark, Ghana, Kurdistan, Trinidad, US, Iran, Syria/Finland, Mexico, the Philippines, and USA.

This flagship is more necessary now than ever before as many European communities have struggled with integrating and facilitating newcomers to their societies in recent years; they are struggling to help those newly-arrived migrants and refugees settle and feel safe and comfortable in their respective societies. These ongoing processes are reflective of a steep, uphill climb as negative social and political narratives remain dominant in the mainstream media. Therefore, it is up to us, civil society and engaged citizens to challenge these narratives by bringing people together rather than standing idly by and letting them be separated. Through Food For Thought, Danes and internationals alike have the chance to meet migrants and refugees face-to-face and learn about their cultures and backgrounds, thereby challenging stereotypes and refuting what is often presented in the media.