Social Bakeries:Doing Good while Baking Well
All over the world, the art of baking has helped many charity programs empower disadvantaged or disabled people with employable skills and confidence. Some, like the Agape projects supported by CFSE, train at-risk youth so that they can reintegrate the workforce. Master Baker Pascal Tepper, who provided technical expertise at the Agape Niger centre, once shared with us the challenges and joys of teaching illiterate street kids to master a renowned craftsmanship, and explained how he adapted the program content to help alleviate local malnutrition issues.
Other programs, such as Amity Bakery in Nanjing or Crazy Bake and Bread of Life in Beijing, go even further as they believe that by functioning as profit-making social enterprises, consumers and employers will recognise the abilities demonstrated by their mentally or physically challenged baking staff.
The Boulangerie Française de Hue in Vietnam was the program that inspired a French expatriate to launch the idea of a social baking centre in Shanghai in 2006. Three years later, Shanghai Young Bakers(SYB) took advantage of a strong market need to welcome, just like in Hue, youth from difficult family backgrounds on a work/study rotation-based system, with the technical support of French bakery school EFBPA.
Today, SYB is mature enough to help other charities develop their own social bakery programs. When we assisted the Tibetan school for the blind BWB in 2012, we took into account the beneficiaries’ specificities, available organic supplies from the farm, local tourist demand, and cost considerations to advise on training methods and recipes. With the support of Carrefour Foundation, we plan on continuing to build a network of social bakeries, based on a dedication to high standards of quality, attentiveness to local market demands, commitment to community development… and a love of sharing the taste of good bread.
By Cecile, SYB Finance & Administration Manager
商业与公益共存的烘焙艺术：在烘焙的同时做公益
在世界各地，烘焙这门艺术已经成为许多公益组织帮助弱势群体获得工作技能和自信的有效工具。有些组织，比如由CFSE资助的Agape项目，通过教授失足青少年烘焙来帮助他们重新获得工作能力。烘焙界大师Pascal Tepper告诉我们，他在Agape Niger 中心教授那些没有读写能力的孩子烘焙是一个充满了挑战和欢乐的过程。他也曾对整个项目进行调整来缓解当地居民普遍营养不良的状况。
其他的一些项目，例如南京的爱德面包坊以及北京的Crazy Bake和生命粮面包房甚至将他们的组织发展成为了盈利性的社会企业。他们相信这样的模式会让更多的消费者和雇主认识到这些身心有缺陷的烘焙师们其实也具有惊人的能力。
2006年，一个法国侨民在受到位于越南的Boulangerie Francaise De Hue机构的启发之后萌生了在上海也建立一个社会化烘焙中心的想法。三年之后，随着市场的需求不断扩大，海上青焙坊在法国烘焙学校EFBPA的支持之下应运而生，开始着手帮助有着不同家庭背景的弱势青少年获得半工半读的机会。
如今，海上青焙坊已经发展得相对成熟，也有能力帮助其他的公益组织发展公益性的烘焙项目。2012年，我们帮助了位于西藏的盲文无国界组织学校，为了在培训方式和配方方面给出合理建议，我们考虑了许多因素，例如：所帮助的人群的特殊性、能够从附近的农场得到的有机原料供给以及当地旅客的需求。在家乐福基金会的帮助下，我们目前正计划建立一个公益烘焙的工作关系网。这个关系网不光会建立在对高质量产品的追求、现今市场的需求、和社会组织发展的基础之上，还有最重要的一点，那就是对烘焙这门艺术的欣赏和热爱。
高凤熙, 海上青焙坊财务行政经理