Photo taken by Valerie Larsen 3/22/25
On our last full day in Toulouse, we traveled to La Fabrique Solidaire des Minimes where we spent the day working together with the community to make a warm and comforting shared meal! It was energizing to converse with people from the Toulouse community (even through language barriers) and hear their stories. La Fabrique Solidaire des Minimes is a space that serves as a hub for individuals who are unemployed, looking for work, socially isolated, or homeless – helping people find jobs and/or community. The organization emphasizes social inclusion and building social links through cooking, sharing meals together, board game nights, and tea and coffee hours.
The space did not just draw from the local area. One younger man who had just immigrated to France from Guinea came from an hour away to help cook meals every Thursday, which goes to show the importance of this social space to people.
At La Fabrique Solidaire des Minimes, this non-profit seems to build food security while simultaneously empowering individuals by providing a space that validates people’s backgrounds, ideas, and stories through cooking and eating as a community. The organization is often utilized by migrant populations and it is wonderful to see what people from different cultures can bring to a shared space.
Photo taken by Valerie Larsen, 3/20/25
All the produce came from a CSA box, which is essentially a subscription box of locally grown food. The meal will not be determined until they see what is in the CSA box Wednesday night. While sustainability is not their first priority, through the CSA subscription, they are preventing large CO2 emissions due to locality and eating with the seasons.
Every Thursday, volunteers and recipients of services come to cook in the morning. This is an opportunity for people from all different walks of life and privilege to come together and enjoy each other’s presence. Once the meal is made, tables are pushed together to form a large dinner table, where everyone can enjoy the meal together. Everyone who eats the meal can help cook, but it is not required.
I was helping out with the main course, which was a vegetarian quiche and a healthy and filling soup where cabbage took the star of the show. Most recently the organization has started to cook vegetarian as it has been more cost-effective.
It was there that those prepping the main course met an older lady in a purple plaid jacket. She had moved to Toulouse when she was 20 and was beyond enthusiastic about being a part of La Fabrique Solidaire des Minimes. She expressed how much she enjoyed the intergenerational aspect of the space, as college-aged volunteers come to help out with cooking often, but so do middle-aged and retired folks.
Hung up on the walls, was art made by Veronique Combes, centered around themes of immigration and domestic
Photo taken by Valerie Larsen 3/20/25
violence. This art signifies that the shared space is safe for people who identify with these stories, but also opens up conversations around these topics. The art changes every month and often highlights local artists.
Once the soup had come to a boil and the warm smell of apple tart filled the kitchen, it was time to eat. Food was not scarce. While 20 of us were around the table, there were plenty of opportunities to get seconds. Overall, La Fabrique Solidaire des Minimes provides a welcoming place for people who may feel socially isolated, connecting them to resources and a kind, hospitable, shared space.