We believe EVERYONE should have ACCESS and the CHOICE to eat tasty, nutritious and sustainable food that is good for the soul and for the planet!
Sadly, this isn’t the case. 6,633 young people in Bristol suffered from severe to moderate food insecurity between 2020 - 2021. This number is only increasing due to the cost of living crisis and the consequences of COVID - 19.
So far we have delivered over 17,000 singles meals and 6800 aMAZIng Meal kits, but we NEED to do more!
So, we need your help to get a van to deliver our aMAZIng meal kits to 160 of the 6,633 young people by the end of this year! And if we meet our stretch target and secure a larger and permanent space, we can reach 300.
Why do young people need our help?
Our city's vulnerable 16 - 25 year olds need support. At a future defining age we believe we should be nurturing and empowering victims of domestic abuse, asylum seekers, care leavers and youth recovering from homelessness. Most have faced family breakdowns, war, struggle with mental and physical health, PTSD, sexual exploitation, poverty and often the feeling of isolation and loneliness.
"My cooking was limited and not very nutritional. I think a part of it was I was also feeling rubbish and so was eating badly as this is what I felt I deserved." aMAZIng young person
The cost of living crisis has seen a 19% increase in food costs, further restricting Bristol’s disadvantaged young people's quality of food to takeaways, tinned food or processed food. Combining this malnourished diet with their day to day challenges can have a heavy impact on their education, employment and health in the long term. This vicious cycle can make young people feel worthless and not cared for, pushing them further into a destructive lifestyle.
Well it's time we showed we cared!
We are The MAZI Project, a youth led CIC empowering marginalised young people through food! Teaching them to cook tasty and nutritious meals made with local ingredients.
What is our aMAZIng Meal kit service?
Each week the young people we support receive a text with a large array of our TASTY and SEASONAL meals asking each young person to CHOOSE up to 3 recipes. All our boxes include locally sourced fresh ingredients, pre-weighed and mixed dry ingredients and a simple to follow recipe card; ready for the young people to cook three nutritious meals.
When they start with us they receive their very own aMAZIng Recipe Book, a refillable oil bottle and a selection of spices as seen in middle image.
“The MAZI Project has changed the idea of food for me. It's wonderful to enjoy good food with others, but it's just as important to make good healthy meal for yourself.” aMAZIng young person
How does The MAZI Project help the planet?
We believe food poverty and climate change NEED to be part of the same conversation! That is why, we put the protection of our planet and sustainability at the heart of how we operate.
With each of our recipes, we aim to work with the seasons and with local growers and small scale producers. Not only does that help our planet, but helps grow the local economy, support small scale farmers and get nutrient dense food to young people in need.
So far, we have been getting delicious produce from Radford Mill, Five Acre Farm and more.
We are still just over two years old which means, there is definitely room for improvement but having the correct infrastructure like a van can help us towards our goal of tackling food poverty whilst reducing CO2 emissions!
Why do we need a van?
We currently depend on our wonderful volunteers, their cars and founder Melanie’s car to deliver all our aMAZIng meal kits but this is not sustainable, for us or the planet.
If we are looking to go from 80 to 160, we need to get our own van and hire someone to drive the majority of the boxes. This will ensure that all boxes are delivered on time with ALL the appropriate safeguarding and training in place and without depending too much on volunteers.
Will it be electric?
YESSS!