#WorldFoodDay2018: A pledge to not waste food | SDG Goals
World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on 16 October in honour of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. On the occasion of World Food Day on 16 October 2018, Feeding India is launching #FightFoodWaste, a national campaign to put a stop to the massive food wastage happening in India and instead use good extra food to fight hunger and feed people in need. The campaign will be rolled out nationally in 100+ cities giving 1,00,000 pledges and 500+ community fridges.
In an effort to make India free of hunger and food waste, Feeding India is setting up 500 innovative Happy Fridges nationally free of cost, the largest such movement in the country and around the world. Any citizen can sign up for a Happy Fridge by simply filling an online form, last date for which is 31 October 2018. The Happy Fridges are innovative community fridges placed in residential or commercial areas, where people who want to donate food can simply keep their food in the fridge along with simple labels and thereafter, people from poor sections of the society can take the food from the Happy Fridge directly with dignity.
“Today, we waste more food than we can possibly imagine. A lot of this food waste occurs near households, restaurants, markets, etc. and also at odd times during the day, when volunteers and Feeding India food recovery vans (Magic Vans) cannot help collect and donate the food. These Happy Fridges are a great way for people to donate food with ease without travelling too far. Now everyone will be able to help people in need themselves. We’ve put the power back in the hands of the community” said Feeding India co-founder, Srishti Jain.
Feeding India will provide the Happy Fridge (a single door fridge) along with instructions on how to use this. People who want to set up the Happy Fridge need to think of a common location in their vicinity where there is an electricity point. Feeding India Hunger Heroes will also work with the person to spread awareness around the vicinity so people can stop wasting food and instead donate it to people in need.
People from all parts of the society ie. every citizen and organization are encouraged to come forward and commit their support towards solving food wastage and hunger for the next one year. More than 500 chefs, restaurants and caterers and corporates have signed up already. Even more than 1,00,000 students from colleges and schools from across India have pledged to join the fight against food waste. With the support of the public, the end goal is to set up food distribution systems, Magic Wheels, in most cities in India which will enable schools, colleges, companies, weddings, restaurants and individuals to donate excess nutritious food to the people in need.
More than 40% of food in the world is wasted, accounting for Rs. 58,000 crore in India. With food being an integral part of India’s rich cultures and celebrations, massive amounts of food is wasted during events, cafeterias, restaurants, hotels, households, factories, etc. Ironically, at the very same time, More than 915 million people in the world go hungry each day. Of these, a whopping 190 million hungry people live in India. That’s almost 25% of the world’s hungry population.
It’s time to change this. It’s time to #fightfoodwaste.
The movement is being organized by Feeding India, you can pledge your support here.
