Love and Soup Kitchens: An Experience in Rome

Abstract

The issue of poverty and hunger has spread globally. Experiences such as the inability to eat at home, the dietary practices of people in street situations, and the lack of nutrients due to extreme poverty are prevalent across the global South and North. In this context, soup kitchens for the poor have become a dining space that populates cities in an era of trans-globalization. The poor, homeless, retirees, migrants, and war-displaced individuals participate daily in a set of collective practices where food and nourishment are offered. This paper seeks to demonstrate the existence of practices embodying love in a soup kitchen for the poor in the city of Rome. To achieve this goal, the following strategy was chosen: 1) conceptually outline the notion of love, b) theoretically and practically present what the current experiences of soup kitchens for the poor entail, c) present an auto-ethnographic account of an experience participating in a soup kitchen for the poor in the San Giovanni neighbourhood of Rome, and d) conclude by discussing the idea of love in light of the experience and contributions to a sociology of hope.