Starting Point
Solidaritas Pangan Jogja (SPJ), or Jogja Food Solidarity, is a network of public and community kitchens in Yogyakarta that aims to provide food to informal workers and economically vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. These include women and others who are unable to work due to COVID-19 restrictions. This initiative was brought to counter the layered impact of the pandemic, where informal workers and vulnerable groups live under health fear and economic disempowerment. This becomes more relevant, considering that 51% of workers in Yogyakarta are informal workers.
Initially, the network began as a single public kitchen in Ita Fatia Nadia’s house in Ngampilan. She and her children organised the kitchen and were able to provide 50 portions of food. To help more people, Ita Fatia Nadia contacted her colleague to encourage similar initiatives in their area. Through this communication, various Yogyakarta residents, including students, workers, and social activists, began establishing their kitchens, and 11 were subsequently included in the network.
With this network, SPJ was born. The network becomes a platform for community organising. Some volunteers provide their time to cook in the kitchen and distribute food. The network also allows donations to provide more food to those in need. SPJ also collaborated with Paguyuban Petani Lahan Pantai Kulon Progo (PLPP), also known as the Kulon Progo Coastal Farmers Association, as the supplier of the produce used in cooking.
The establishment of SPJ is deeply connected to Ms. Nadia’s family, which has always been active in social movements, with her father participating in the process of Indonesia's independence. She recounts her growing-up memories in which she was taught to always care about others. She started her activism in human rights during her university studies in the 1980s. She was Director of Kalyana Mitra in 1992, an organisation focusing on women's protection and empowerment, along with racial discrimination and other human rights violations, for example, persecution of Chinese-Indonesians in 1965, and particularly in response to the oppression and injustice brought by the new order regime.
Her background in history influences her approach to understanding issues. This is more apparent in her activism through her historical inquiry into the persecution of Chinese-Indonesians in 1965, the attack on the PDIP office, violence against student activists, and the 1998 economic crisis riot. This inquiry led her to be critical of the injustice and oppression during the new order.
In addition to her activism, she continually finds ways to address issues in her surroundings. Some of her initiatives include documenting women's history in Indonesian development and SPJ.
Peace Journey
SPJ addresses the issue of food security by ensuring that individuals facing challenges in obtaining food are provided with food from public kitchens. Furthermore, it ensures that the food is purchased from farmers or sellers in traditional markets or from farmers whose incomes have been affected by COVID-19 restrictions and injustices, such as those who face evictions due to sand mining operations. This conscious choice ensures that SPJ activities focus on empowerment for those who need it the most.
The organisation has also provided volunteer opportunities for students to participate in social movements. Some volunteers have shared that it allows them to develop empathy and solidarity with vulnerable groups. In this sense, it helps raise awareness by serving as a laboratory for solidarity within the social movement.
Lastly, it gained coverage in mainstream media after refusing a government award for its contributions, as it believes that the provision of awards is a waste of government resources amidst the systemic issues faced by the general public, including the lack of accessible testing sites for COVID-19. It encourages the government to channel the funds for the award to initiatives that address the people's needs in an accountable and transparent manner.
Success Stories
SPJ demonstrates community resilience through community organising. An initiative that inspires others to do the same. The ability to organise resources, including kitchen space, produce, workforce, and knowledge, to operate a kitchen has created a network that helps numerous people in need. The spirit of a movement “for the people, by the people” during a crisis gives rise to what can be described as an organic and spontaneous movement. Such quality enables SPJ to become a movement that inspires not only seasoned social activists but also individuals with limited experience in social movements to do what they can, with what they have, for those who need help.
However, the organisation is not without challenges in its operation. During the pandemic, the activities were interrupted by officials on multiple occasions, with the pretext of a possible violation of COVID-19 protocols, which was unfounded, considering that it followed the restrictions of having limited people working in the kitchen, wearing masks, and maintaining physical distancing.
There were instances where state intelligence intervened in their meeting, suspecting that SPJ was an “anarchist” organisation. The officials also interrogated the staff, including questions about their funding and who was behind the initiative, while taking pictures of the operation. The organisation highlights that they were merely a “movement by the people, for the people”, helping each other in times of need, and the funds are purely provided through donations from those who are concerned.
Responding to such intervention, Ms. Nadia wrote a letter to the President on SPJ’s initiatives to realise the spirit of community solidarity (gotong royong) and deliver her wishes for their good faith initiative not to be interfered with. Such concerns were also brought to the press and reported in mainstream media. While it is unclear whether the officials acted upon the letter, SPJ then continued its operation and received an award (which they rejected) from the government. This demonstrates the ability of the coordinator to defend their initiative by standing firm on the principle of mutual support and communicating the organisation’s messages not only to the public but also to the state.
During her activism, Ms. Nadia received threats from strangers and the regime, which she criticised, particularly during the New Order era. She recounted her experience of receiving death threats along with threats to her family as well after she planned to bring the 1998 violence against Chinese Indonesians to the United Nations. She also recounted how her colleagues were murdered because of her activism. To this day, she has continued to experience surveillance and censure due to her activism, including her involvement with SPJ.
In response to those challenges, Ms. Nadia explained that resilience in the face of violence and oppression is central to her activism. She recounted her experience during the violence of 1998, when she felt compelled to physically protect a woman being beaten by men and to take her to safety, despite her colleagues' concerns that she would also be harmed. She also mentioned that during the violence, someone who was the target of the violence asked her about her religion, but she responded with “My religion is humanity.” However, she is also aware that her activism must not jeopardise the welfare of her family, particularly her children. She stated that she had to temporarily limit her involvement in activist spaces to ensure the safety of her family, especially her children.
Through her activities in SPJ, Ms. Nadia demonstrated empathy, which enabled her to respond swiftly to other people's issues. This empathy also contributed to her critical perspective on issues. Thus, her experience became a lesson in organising and mobilising people and resources.