by MICHAEL-OLIVER HARDING

In October 2003, Jean-Louis Thémistocle, a lively Montreal chef and Madagascar native, founded Cuisiniers sans frontières (CSF), a non-profit organization in the same vein as Doctors or Engineers Without Borders. Its aim is to provide unemployed people in developing countries with basic training in local and international cuisine.

The project is geared towards sustainable development and social integration, so that people living on the streets can become skilled apprentice cooks and apply their knowledge by working in hotels and restaurants. Or better yet, opening their own businesses. The ultimate goal, he hopes, is the creation of a “gastronocracy,” a society in which the focal point is food, not money (he coined the term).

“A society that revolves around food would stimulate the development of a number of related jobs, such as making pots and pans and building better methods of food conservation, for instance,” says Thémistocle.

Thémistocle has been raising funds for over two years and has to date collected $14,000, which will help him fly to Majunga, a city of two million inhabitants on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, off the southeast coast of Africa. This coming June, he’ll hold the first 350-hour CFS workshop in a country where 80 per cent of the population lives off one Canadian dollar a day. Twenty people will benefit from the workshop this summer, which will be given four times over the course of the year.

Thémistocle first became conscious of the great challenges he faces when the federal Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) refused to fund his project. “[CIDA] immediately associates cuisine with tourism and people who live in luxury,” he says. “They don’t see it as a tool to fight poverty. People don’t see the correlation between the environment, child mortality and cooking.”

The training stresses the importance of proper hygiene when preparing meals to avoid food poisoning, and also introduces the apprentice cooks to environmentally conscious practices like composting.

“People over there are so wrapped up in poverty that they can’t see anything beyond their misery,” says Thémistocle. “But from a distance, we can better understand what steps need to be taken. The first is to minimize cooking time, because longer cooking means more energy, more wood and ultimately a bigger shortage of resources.” (Malagasy people, for example, are fond of intricately boiled meat stews and of koba, a popular dessert cooked for 72 hours).

“My heart tells me this is my mission,” he says. “I’m selling my house and my car. I’ll no longer have any ties to Montreal other than my daughter. If I can only do this until I die, then I will.”

A fundraising dinner at l’Institut de tourisme d’hôtellerie (3535 St-Denis) on Saturday, May 27, will offer ticket holders a menu of fine Malagasy cuisine and an evening of entertainment. It will be the last big event prior to Thémistocle’s June 20 departure. Price is $100 and includes taxes, service and wine. For people who can’t attend but still want to chip in, donations are also accepted. Visit www.cuisinierssansfrontieres.org for more details. Call 594-8192 or 272-9488 to reserve tickets.