Micro Credits: Food Back of Social Affairs Bureau

Micro Credits: Food Back of Social Affairs Bureau

by 劉騏甄

The waste of food = the waste of water, fertilizers, and land!

Of the 3.4 million tons of the leftover discarded in Taiwan per year, about 40% comes from the production, storage, and processing, and the waste of the retailers and consumers exceeds 60%! The main factor for the waste is that rapid urbanization has led to consumers’ preference changes, such as higher standards for products, appearance, sweetness, etc. Those demands have led to more and more exceptional products that do not meet market standards.

Food Bank-An organization of Food Redistribution

There are 3 steps to stop the waste of food: proportion reduction, redistribution, and recycling. Donating food to people in need is clearly one of the means to tackle the problem of food waste. It is a common practice for the 1919 Food Bank, the Alliance of Taiwan Foodbanks and Nanjichang Food Bank, etc. passing on the food to people in need to reach the goal of cherishing food.

It is very remarkable that the first actual food bank in Taiwan was established in 2012. From the way of giving out particular supplies in different locations to providing more choices that are closer to the actual needs of those in need, people can see the progress of the Social Affairs Bureau of Taichung City Government and NGOs work hard together to develop a complete system of food banks.

For now, there are 3 actual food banks, 34 material distribution centers, 15 chain stores, and 7 food exchange platforms. Also, 2200 families will be provided the service of food aid each month.

In the year 2015, many innovative measures were proposed: legalizing and integrating food banks in the local community, setting up large refrigerated warehouses, running a food exchange platform, and cooperating with the Agriculture Bureau to purchase surplus agricultural products, and then forward them to the needy recipients through the food bank.

One Step Further-the Fengyuan Food Bank

Supplies will be handed out through the Social Affairs Bureau - the Fengyuan Food Bank Branch. We hope to find out who is interested in participating in activities of the food redistribution and start training them to be the future assistants of the Social Affairs Bureau. Websites related to food banks will be set up in order to reduce food waste in the future.