Liberty Kitchen is a

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ca ...

based at

HM Prison Pentonville HM Prison Pentonville (informally "The Ville") is an English Category B men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not in Pentonville, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury ar ...

, London. It exists to train prisoners in high-quality food preparation, and to employ ex-prisoners to sell this food at

street markets A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from the Arabic), '' ...

. Its intention is to open up opportunities to the men, including qualifications and the possibility of self-employment, and thus reduce

recidivism Recidivism (; from ''recidive'' and ''ism'', from Latin ''recidīvus'' "recurring", from ''re-'' "back" and ''cadō'' "I fall") is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of th ...

. Liberty Kitchen launched in 2016.

Seed funding Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' ...

was provided by, among others, the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

and the

Drapers' Company The Worshipful Company of Drapers is one of the 110 livery companies of the City of London. It has the formal name The Master and Wardens and Brethren and Sisters of the Guild or Fraternity of the Blessed Mary the Virgin of the Mystery of Dr ...

, one of the ancient livery companies of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. Its board is chaired by

Lord Falconer Charles Leslie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, (born 19 November 1951) is a British Labour peer and barrister who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2003 to 2007. Born in ...

, and also includes Edward Faulks, Baron Faulks QC and the editor of ''Delicious'',

Karen Barnes Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic ...

. Its patrons are

Iqbal Wahhab Iqbal Wahhab, OBE ( bn, ইকবাল ওয়াহাব; born 22 August 1963) is a Bangladeshi-born British businessman. He is the founder of '' Tandoori Magazine'', and restaurants The Cinnamon Club and Roast. Background and career Wahha ...

and Gina Moffat, and its founder-director is Janet Boston. Liberty Kitchen offers prisoners a 12-week programme leading to an

NVQ National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are practical work-based awards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are achieved through assessment and training. The regulatory framework supporting NVQs was withdrawn in 2015 and replaced by the ...

(National Vocational Qualification) in enterprise. The menu is centred on creative reinterpretations of

meatballs A meatball is ground meat rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are many types ...

, drawing on the prisoners' backgrounds for culinary ideas and London places for names. For example, the "Ball No Chain" range (referring to the idiom

Ball and chain A ball and chain is a physical restraint device historically applied to prisoners, primarily in the British Empire and its former colonies, from the 17th century until as late as the mid-20th century. A type of shackle A shackle (or shack ...

) includes a vegetarian ball made of

broad beans ''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Vari ...

, named

Green Lanes Green Lanes may refer to: *A green lane (road), a type of road, usually an unpaved rural route. *Green Lanes (London), a major road running through north London *Harringay, a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Haringey sometimes informally refer ...

after the Turkish area of North London. Liberty Kitchen was singled out for positive mention in the 2018 report of the Independent Monitoring Board, whose job it is to monitor the welfare of prisoners. It won "Best Streetfood/Takeaway" at the 2019 BBC Food and Farming Awards and so was featured on BBC Radio 4 ''

The Food Programme ''The Food Programme'' is a BBC Radio 4 programme investigating and celebrating good food, founded by Derek Cooper and currently presented by Sheila Dillon, Dan Saladino, Leyla Kazim and Jaega Wise. The series is produced by BBC Audio in Br ...

''. In addition to street food, Liberty Kitchen caters for events; one company hired them for a staff lunch, describing this as a form of

corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of international private business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethicall ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
2016 establishments in England Organizations established in 2016 Catering and food service companies of the United Kingdom Prison restaurants Social enterprises

See also

References

External links