Uruguay's 'People's Pots' feed the hungry amid pandemic

On a recent afternoon in Montevideo, a small army of volunteers was gathering in the backyard of a house. Some were peeling carrots; others were slicing onions. Another group was bringing in spices, salt, and pots...many pots. There was no time to waste.

This is Uruguay's version of a soup kitchen during the pandemic. Here they call it the "people's pot." Nobody gets paid for their work. Most of the food is donated. And the house where these volunteers were preparing the feast is borrowed. On this particular day they were cooking pork; but the menu varies depending on what ingredients they can get on any given day. Their mission is simple: feeding those who have fallen on hard times during the Covid-19 pandemic, although others are welcome too. Like in many other countries around the world, the pandemic has pushed into poverty many Uruguayans who were previously in the lower middle class. In Uruguay, where the death toll is among the highest in the world, economic activity fell by 6% in 2020 compared to the previous year. That year, during country's first wave of Covid-19 between March and July, one-quarter of the country's privately employed applied for unemployment benefits, according to the International Labor Organization.