Etxekooking: Bizkaia puts on its apron to cook up a tastier future (and all heart too)
At BBK Kuna we believe that we can build Bizkaia’s future by listening, participating and – well, why not? – by cooking together! Because if there’s one place which combines tradition, care, innovation and dreams, that place has just got to be the kitchen. And so, as part of our “Inhabitants of the Future” initiative, we wondered: how do we see the food of tomorrow in our homes?
And the results of the study “The Future of Cooking” headed up by Braulio Gómez, Professor of Political Science at Deusto University, have spurred us on and given us some very clear pointers.
Listening to Bizkaia: What’s cooking in our homes and hearts?
“This kind of ideas are essential tools because they enable us to respond to the needs of local people, and in order to pinpoint exactly what our territory wants, we have to listen to those who live there“, said Kris Prieto, manager of BBK Kuna.
And what we heard was quite revealing. Let’s take a look at four main aspects:
- Back to basics with pride! A massive 47% of Basque men and women believe that being able to cook is just as important as being able to read or write. This tells us a lot about the great store we set by home-cooked food, food lovingly and expertly prepared.
- More “Etxeko” (home), please: there’s a general desire to cook more at home. Although the pace of life sometimes makes it difficult (especially for younger people), there is a clear intention to cut down on pre-processed food and get back to the stove.
- From the countryside to the table (and to schools): we dream of more urban plantations in our cities to fill our school dining rooms with kilometre-zero produce. A clear focus on local and healthy!
- Young people with awareness: the new generations are homing in on awareness food, concerned by health and the impact on our planet.
Braulio Gómez’s presentation pointed out that “most of the Basque population want to reclaim the pleasure of cooking, and see it not only as a necessity, but also as an act of love and a standard for a healthy life and preservation of our immense gastronomy culture“.
Let’s cook it up with Etxekooking!
On the basis of all this inspiration, at BBK Kuna we have thrown ourselves into the “Etxekooking” movement.
What’s Etxekooking? It’s much more than just a word. It’s an invitation, an umbrella under which we want to onboard and encourage initiatives that help us:
- Take back the pleasure of cooking: rediscovering the joy of making our own food.
- Give priority to home-cooked food: seeing it as an act of love towards ourselves and towards those sharing our table. It turns each of us, in our own homes, into influencers for good home-cooked food.
- Boost our culture: because our recipes and culinary habits are a treasure trove well worth sharing and passing on.
- Encourage a healthy life and sustainability: everything from the choice of ingredients to cookery methods.
Etxekooking: A key ingredient for the future of Bizkaia
At BBK Kuna, we are working to activate the future agents of inspiration for Bizkaia. We firmly believe that food is a strategic basis on which to build a healthier, more sustainable and cohesive society.
The Etxekooking movement is a manifestation of how social innovation can rise up from something as everyday and essential as food.
This is a call to people, to families, to schools, to local producers and, of course, to the businesses forming part of our ecosystem. Because the future of food in Bizkaia is not just an individual issue – it’s a joint challenge calling on us to collaborate and co-create.
From our stoves at home we can generate an enormous impact: improving our health, boosting our community relations, helping our producers and protecting our surroundings.
Want to join the Etxekooking movement?
Very shortly we’ll be sharing details of the activities and initiatives that will breathe life into Etxekooking. We’ll be carrying out transversal activities in all the initiatives launched at BBK Kuna.
We want this movement to be by and for everyone. Because when Bizkaia puts on its apron, wonderful things can happen!
Watch out for our next communications, and get ready to rediscover your kitchen’s power of transformation.