A social network for building community around cooking

by Catherine Gérard

Food Food is a social network that allows people who love cooking to build community in their neighborhoods. Its convivial digital space is designed to create encounters in real life: users meet up to share meals, skills, and cooking equipment. In French, Food Food sounds like fou de food: “crazy about food.”

Finding better ways to live together is a major challenge in our society. This issue is close to my heart: in my professional life, I’ve focused on creating social ties, first as a marketing specialist in hospitality and now as a product owner building digital infrastructure for public services. Cooking is a central part of my personal life, because it’s a way for me to bring my friends together, meet new people, and discover new cultures.

Cooking is a natural lever for strengthening community on a local level. When I brought together an initial community of people who love cooking, I was able to identify the need for a social network.

In order to encourage a friendly and safe atmosphere, Food Food is built around trust. To join Food Food, users must be referred by three existing members. Once users become members, they can organize and participate in events. Members can host meals in their homes or in local outdoor spaces, as well as workshops to teach specific skills or perhaps a grandmother’s cherished recipe—know-how that you can’t learn in books or online tutorials. Drawing on principles of the circular economy, Food Food also lets members swap appliances and utensils so they can try out new recipes and techniques.

Beta testers in Marseille will be testing the initial version of Food Food—around delicious homemade meals, of course. Their feedback will be essential to improving the app and finalizing a publishable version in early 2023.

To test the prototype, please fill in this short FORM. You will receive an access link shortly.