We Malaysians love our food but that doesn't stop us from producing about 15,000 tonnes of food waste every day. To make matters even worse, about 60% of that waste is still edible.
Think about how all that food could have gone towards feeding the homeless and the poor.
To put things into perspective, 15,000 tonnes of food could have easily fed a few million. As such here are a few NGO’s and SE’s that are striving to find a viable solution for this very issue.
1. Grub Cycle
Image Credit: Grub Cycle
Grub Cycle strives to raise awareness on food wastage through accumulating surplus food from supermarkets at an affordable price. They also purchase food that's nearly expired or has minor packaging defects.
The food is then resold at marked down prices on Grub Groceries. Part of the proceeds then go towards helping the marginalised community, and to provide basic food supplies for them.
As of today, they’ve managed to save 2201kgs of food from going to waste.
Grub Cycle hopes to slowly eradicate food wastage while providing for underprivileged families.
Find out more about them here, and you could also follow them on their Facebook page.
2. Food Aid Foundation
image Credit: Food Aid Foundation
Food Aid Foundation was founded with the aim to reduce food wastage and to end hunger in Malaysia. Through the concept of “food banks”, this NGO accepts unwanted but still edible foods from manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers and companies.
The food is then redistributed to the underprivileged and hungry. Recipients include charities, welfares, volunteer welfare organisation, poor families, destitute and soup kitchen.
In short, Food Aid Foundation acts as a facilitator by collecting surplus food and redistributing to needy communities. Meals are prepared to feed the hungry who are unable to afford nutritious meals.
They also host empowerment programs that trains the underprivileged community with culinary skills. Check out their work on their Facebook page here.
3. The Lost Food Project
Image Credit: The Lost Food Project
The Lost Food Project (TLFP) receives food from donors like supermarkets, manufacturers and wholesale markets. Similarly, they then distribute the food to those who are in need.
This non-profit also runs educational programs to raise awareness about food wastage by visiting schools and hosting talks. With the help of volunteers, their charity teams and food procurement teams work selflessly to match the needy with food donors.
Furthermore, they also work with farmers, retailers and food manufacturers to reduce food wastage. And so far they've managed to save 152, 752 kgs of food.
Find out more on their Facebook page here.
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4. Robin Food
Image Credit: Food Aid Foundation
Robin Food is an extension of Food Aid Foundation. Robin Food works to reduce food surplus through a mobile app that connects supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and other parties with food banks.
Through the app, they gain important statistics about food wastage that further helps them to tackle the problem.
Through this initiative, they’ve managed to distribute 277,371 meals to the hungry.
That’s a whopping 69,343kgs of food that was saved from the trash! By utilising the power of technology, food donors are able to channel their surplus food effectively to those in dire need.
5. Grace Community Services Food Bank
Image Credit: Grace Community Services Food Bank
Grace Community Services Food Bank was setup after the founder Rev Henry K Pillai saw the struggles that the hardcore poor have to continually endure.
As such they network with various sources to collect surplus, almost expired food, and food with packaging defects. They also accept donated food from the likes of food manufacturers, food importers, wholesalers, agents, supermarkets, hotel, organisations as well as regular individuals.
Once collected, the food is then packed and organised neatly. By every 3rd week of the month, underprivileged families make their way to the food bank to collect basic food supplies.
Grace Community Services Food Bank is currently located in Klang. They provide food for 400 families, and they also send food over to their centre in Kuala Lumpur.
Through the various efforts of these organisations, huge amounts of food are saved and channeled towards feeding the needy.
The next time you're at a buffet, don't waste food as it has huge environmental and social impacts. As such, we should always be more mindful of our actions. When it comes to food wastage, less is more.
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*Feature Image Credit: The Lost Food Project FB Page