Pueblo a Pueblo [People to People] is a grassroots project for organizing the production, distribution, and consumption of food, which connects agricultural producers with urban dwellers.
In so doing, the project breaks with the despotism of the capitalist market. In parts I, II, and III of this four-part piece in the Communal Resistance Series, Pueblo a Pueblo’s spokespeople talk about their organization’s method and history and about the transition to a sovereign, agroecological model.
In this final part of the series, we learn about the organization’s effort to distribute food to schools and its links with the Chávez and Bolívar Commune.
Fruit and veggies for schools
After a 2021 meeting with President Maduro, Pueblo a Pueblo became a source of fresh produce for Venezuelan school meals.
As we speak, we are distributing food to almost 300 schools, thus providing the produce they need to cook balanced meals for some 100 thousand kids. This is particularly important at a time when the blockade has affected children’s nutrition. Pueblo a Pueblo does this without intermediaries and offers on-site accompaniment to diversify and balance school meals.
Our school food distribution initiative operates in seven states at the moment [Caracas, Miranda, Lara, Anzoategui, Trujillo, Barinas, and Portuguesa]. While it is run in collaboration with the government’s school food program [known as PAE], our work in this area obeys Pueblo a Pueblo’s basic premise: working with organized communities on both the production and the consumption of food.
When we begin working with a new school, we don’t just deliver produce. We also meet with the community, involve them in the process, and work with those who cook, so that the meals will be balanced and healthy. Finally, we help build a network to deliver fruit and vegetables from local producers, thus encouraging consumption of local produce.
It's still at early days in this developmental programme…….
Produce distribution to schools dates back to the early days of Pueblo a Pueblo. We did it here in Carache [Trujillo state] first. We began with the Mesa Arriba school, and around 2017 we expanded to 46 schools through an agreement with the National School Food Corporation [CNAE]. In other words, we supplied the 35 schools in Carache plus 11 in Caracas, including schools in the 23 de Enero and San Agustín barrios.
In August 2021, after Sputnik published an article about Pueblo a Pueblo, President Maduro called us for a meeting. He requested that we supply food for 600 schools. More importantly, the president requested that Pueblo a Pueblo’s methodology be “copied” in the food distribution initiatives promoted by the government.
The new phase began in November 2021, after overcoming many administrative and bureaucratic hurdles. These included having to be associated [in legal terms] with a private enterprise, since the Food Ministry, which is in charge of contracting “providers,” won’t contract with communal enterprises or other non-private entities.
President Maduro’s initial request was that Pueblo a Pueblo be brought on to distribute 600 tons of produce to the schools. However, the first requisition from the Food Ministry was under 300 tons, and currently, we are at 100 tons of produce for 100 thousand kids. Nonetheless, we have the capacity to distribute 600 tons, and we are sure that eventually, we will be distributing that amount.
Our work with schools not only supplies healthy food for kids while benefiting producers, but it also helps strengthen grassroots organizations around educational centers……….
To READ further on this interestingly progressive initiative go to
Pueblo a Pueblo [People to People]
Gracias.