CÚCUTA, Colombia — A covered truck packed with potatoes pulls up in front of the feeding center on a busy street on the outskirts of Cúcuta. Hefty sacks are hoisted onto shoulders and carried back to the kitchen through the lunchtime crowd of clients sitting at plastic tables, finishing off plates of rice, lentils, meat, and vegetables.
These potatoes traveled 12 hours via truck from Boyacá, a department in central Colombia and one of the most fertile areas in the country. Grown by Colombian farmers, the potatoes were sent to the border to feed the Venezuelans who depend on these kitchens for access to meals each day.
Colombia is currently hosting an estimated 1.7 million people who have fled the collapse in Venezuela. Kitchens like this one, Nueva Ilusión, have been a lifeline for families settled in or passing through the border city of Cúcuta.