An NGO Feeding India launched a campaign “#Fight- FoodWaste” on Tuesday ~ World Food Day ~ to check the massive wastage of food across the country.
The campaign seeks to curb the wastage of food while ensuring proper use of extra food for needy people. It proposes to set up 500 “happy fridges” in different parts of the country in near future for the purpose.
The “happy fridges” are envisaged by Feeding India as “innovative community fridges” placed in residential or commercial areas, where people who want to donate food can simply keep their food along with labels in that fridge and needy people from underprivileged and vulnerable sections can directly take the food from that fridge with dignity.
According to the NGO, any citizen seeking the setting up of such a fridge in their neighbourhood can sign up for this by filling an online form until 31 October. The campaign would be undertaken in over 100 cities involving more than 500 community fridges.
“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 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,” said Shrishti Jain, a Feeding India co-founder.
Feeding India will provide the “happy fridge (a single door fridge)” along with instructions on how to use this. People who want to install it are required to propose a common public location with an electricity point in their area for it.
More than 500 chefs, restaurants, caterers and corporates have signed up for this campaign. Thousands of students from colleges and schools from across India have also pledged to join the fight against wastage of food.