Trad is a trap. Für eine neue Frankfurter Stadtteilküche

Kitchen Debates #2

In 1959, the then US Vice-President Richard Nixon and the Soviet Head of Government Nikita Khrushchev debated the superiority of capitalism and communism in a show kitchen at an American exhibition in Moscow. The debate, which became known as the Kitchen Debate, turned the kitchen into the scene of a global political conflict.

The Kitchen Debates at the Frankfurt Neighbourhood Kitchen build on this historic moment. For even today, the kitchen remains a contested political space: it is here that issues of food, agriculture, climate justice and care work converge.

The Neighbourhood Kitchen becomes a public forum for discussion. Academia, activism, politics, practice and the neighbourhood come together to discuss the challenges of the food crisis and alternative models of public services. It is not just about talking: during the talks and debates, participants chop, cook, wash up and, above all, eat together. In this way, discourse does not take place in spite of or beyond care work, but with and through it.

The focus is on conflict-oriented discussions, controversial debates and the exchange of different social perspectives. The Kitchen Debates view dissent not as an obstacle, but as a prerequisite for new ideas.

22 August 2026, 10:00 – 16:00 – Kitchen Debate #2: SUPPLY AND DEMAND
Focus on food justice: Who benefits from the food industry and who loses out?

With contributions from, amongst others:

• Xenia Waporidis conducts research into bicycle feminism, as well as the aesthetics and logistics of bicycle delivery workers, at the Institute for Media Studies at Ruhr University Bochum;
• António Fernandes Coelho is a delivery worker and works council member, as well as a member of Riders United FFM.
• Jan-Felix Thon is active in the ‘Expropriate Lidl & Co.’ initiative, a master gardener and board member of the community-supported agriculture co-operative Ko-La Leipzig.

Further speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

27 September 2026 – 10:00 – 16:00 Kitchen Debate #3: REVOLT FROM THE KITCHEN
What happens when care work takes centre stage in society?
With contributions from, amongst others:

• Dr Johanna Leinius is the research director of the Cornelia Goethe Centre and a researcher into discourses and practices relating to the defence of the body, territory and life in protest and resistance movements against extractive projects in Central and South America and Germany.

Further speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

4 October 2026 – 10:00 – 16:00 Kitchen Debate #4: GREAT LOCAL KÜFA SUMMIT

Alternative models for community catering. A networking event for all those active in solidarity-based community catering.

To mark the end of the Frankfurt neighbourhood kitchen, projects focusing on solidarity-based and community-led catering will come together. The summit creates a space for exchange, networking and the development of shared perspectives on a sustainable food infrastructure.

Contributions will be announced in the coming weeks.