In December 2011, Harriet Matthey met with a group of homeless people in Over-the-Rhine and saw a real need for healthy food options for those who didn’t have access to it. From those conversations she came up with Oatmobile, a SmartCar that would provide hot porridge to people in Cincinnati’s food deserts.
That idea became what is now
SoupCycle, a bike that transports soup to community centers, parks and events. Suzy DeYoung of
La Soupe has been supplying the soups for about a year, and they’ve been a huge hit with those on the receiving end.
“My daughter was a pedi-cab driver in Boston, and she said anyone can pedal 350 pounds thanks to gears,” Matthey says. “So I thought, why not give it a try?”
DeYoung’s soup is made with ingredients bought or given from local chefs and discounted produce from grocery stores. Soup is a great way to help people experience healthy eating as well as introduce them to ingredients they’re not familiar with, Matthey says, and SoupCycle also helps kids learn to make more informed eating decisions.
Matthey says that engineering students at the University of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky University have helped contribute to SoupCycle, and engineering heads at Purdue University and Ohio State University have also given their time and advice on the project.
So far, SoupCycle has shared soup as well as porridge in Avondale, Walnut Hills and downtown. Matthey currently serves soup at 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays in Piatt Park downtown and has plans to take SoupCycle to the May 8 Ride for Reading event, which is part of
Bike Month, and the May 16 Health Fair at Riverview East School.
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