Oxfam Intermón and Agirre Lehendakaria Center (ALC) promoted a listening process to understand in depth the perceptual diversity that exists around the current care system, with a focus on the municipality of Getxo (Euskadi) and the district of Nou Barris (Catalonia).

As part of the collaboration between Oxfam Intermón and ALC, a collective interpretation session was held on 22 October 2023 at the San Martín parish (Algorta, Euskadi). The purpose of this meeting was to deepen the listening process and include elements of co-creation in the study of care through a culinary exercise.

In the dynamics of collective interpretation contextualized in the gastronomic field, the table represents the space where culture converges. People of different nationalities or religions come to this table to share ingredients and experiences, which encourages the generation of stories, rites and values that, when shared, are transformed into a shared language that overcomes linguistic differences.

After the presentation of the dynamic and its objectives, participants were encouraged to share an ingredient that encapsulates their history or identity. This exercise is intrinsically linked to the concept of participatory ethnographic research that is articulated around the idea of "culinary autoethnography", in which individuals, by choosing and sharing their ingredient of choice, contribute to the collective construction: "food and drink are carriers of history and culture" (Mintz, 1985). Likewise, this exercise allowed the creation of an environment based on equality and empathy that, by stripping away pre-existing hierarchies, allowed the participants to feel comfortable enough to intervene freely in the dynamics.

Subsequently, the culinary activities were presented and divided among participants, for the preparation of the menu of the day. The preparations included elements of Moroccan, Latin American and Basque cuisine, thus merging the culture and culinary roots of the participants.

While they roasted the bread, cut and baked the vegetables, beat the dessert ingredients or seasoned the meat, the ALC team encouraged the conversation around the care system through a listening space:

How do you see yourself being cared by others?, Who do you think is going to take care of you?, What will happen when we reach an old age in which we can no longer fend for ourselves?, How do we imagine that next stage, that future?, Who has the responsibility to solve it?, Can a comprehensive care system be demanded?, were some of the questions that were laid on the table.

Throughout the session, it was possible to delve into the narratives identified the previous months of work.