In the new KRO-NCRV programme “Kook van jou,” [In Dutch, literally means “cooking with stuff I got from you”, but also “love you too”] Yvon Jaspers travels the country to cook with people receiving assistance from Voedselbanken Nederland. Yvon, along with them, prepares a meal using the groceries they received that week. Not for themselves but for someone who has always been there for them. A family member, a former colleague, or a neighbor who is indispensable and they want to thank. While chopping onions and cooking potatoes, all the topics related to life on a small budget are discussed. From shame to gratitude and from despair to pride. In this four-part series, Yvon meets resilient individuals who give poverty in the Netherlands a face. “Kook van jou” can be seen on KRO-NCRV on NPO 1 from Saturday, January 6, 2024, at 19:00.
Honest portraits
In each episode, Yvon visits three different people who share their life stories while cooking. For example, Tineke, who kept her debts a secret from her entire environment for twenty years until three years ago when she decided to enter debt restructuring and ended up at the Food Bank: “You feel so powerless because you no longer have control over things. In the beginning, I was ashamed enormously because I am not able to support myself. But I always thought: I want to get out of this. I’m now just 65, and I also want to live without thinking about how I have to make ends meet.” Yvon also meets the volunteers who make all this possible. In the Netherlands, almost 14,000 volunteers, often alongside their own jobs, work to fill all the grocery bags.
Yvon Jaspers: “Through ‘Kook van jou,’ I have gotten to know many exceptionally strong people. Like Letitia, who stays awake at night because she doesn’t know if she can buy enough food for her children, or Jibba, who, after years of homelessness, is trying to get his life back on track. They all face the feeling of shame by telling their stories. I find that admirable. It takes so much courage to give poverty in the Netherlands a face.”
Cooking on a small budget
Although the Netherlands is one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, poverty exists here as well. Approximately 100,000 people receive groceries from one of the 176 Food Banks in the Netherlands every week. “Kook van jou” gives you a peek into the kitchen of people receiving this assistance. The KRO-NCRV program shows that anyone can end up in such a situation and also provides inspiration for cooking delicious meals on a small budget.
“Kook van jou” is produced by Kleine Storm in collaboration with KRO-NCRV.
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