During 2012 MaMa worked with people from Coquí, near the Chocó Base, to create a communal vegetable and herb garden. The idea emerged during a series of discussions with the community about food security, recovering traditional farming techniques, the importance of local cuisine and the importance of medicinal plants. The practical starting point was to build two greenhouses and delegate tasks related to its care.
Under pressure of having to buy food and medicinal products outside the region, the aim of the project was to improve the quality of locally grown food and to investigate how the community can produce enough food for all its needs.
Sow and Gastronomic Festival was articulated within the Nuevatopías programme. The foundation then presented the ideas that emerged during this process to both national and international audiences, including professional artists and experts working in the fields of nutrition, health and sustainability. Artists from Colombia, Thailand, Senegal and the Netherlands visited the project and explored these ideas with the community.
In August of the same year the community organised its first Gastronomy Festival and invited chef Leo Espinoza to lead a series of workshops.