This bank only does one thing to "match" the remaining food
Residents of Jiangpu Street in Shanghai receive food in front of the automatic food collection machine. Photo courtesy of Jiangpu Street
Shameful waste
Right now, the whole society is advocating "strict economy and oppose waste".
On October 9th, the first KFC "Food Bank" in Fujian Province was inaugurated. KFC placed the remaining food at the "Food Bank Self-Pickup Station" set up at the entrance of the restaurant and provided it to citizens in need for free, practicing the frugal fashion.
Don't think this is a new thing in China. In fact, Shanghai has already had a food bank in the early years.
Since 2014, Shanghai Oasis Public Welfare Development Center has begun to explore the model of food bank landing in China, and in 2015, it established China's first community-based food bank in Tangqiao, Pudong.
This is how the food bank operates
The so-called food bank, as the name implies, is a place where food is stored and withdrawn. The bank's storage party is the food institution, and the withdrawal party is the people in difficulties.
The food bank distributes the food near the expiration date (hereinafter referred to as the temporary food) produced during the food production and sales process, also known as the surplus food, to those in need, thereby avoiding food waste.
At around 8:30 in the morning, a truck carrying green onions, green peppers, winter dates, eggplants and other fruits and vegetables drove from the Aoleqi Supermarket on Hongguan Road in Shanghai to the Family Support Center on Jiangpu Road on Zhoujiazui Road. The point of the food bank.
Jiangpu Road Street Food Bank, located at No. 2309 Zhoujiazui Road, officially opened in April 2018. Relying on the brand support of Oasis Food Bank, as of the end of August this year, it has received donations from six caring companies including Universal Supermarket and General Mills. 18,587 pieces of food during the shelf life were distributed to 8,795 people.
Recently, Hema Xianshengbaodi Store and Oleqi also provided daily targeted donations of fruits and vegetables in the area under the jurisdiction, which enriched the food bank's variety of foods and suddenly made the food bank's popularity booming.
The reporter saw that more than 20 low-income households living in Jiangpu Road Street had already taken the vegetables they wanted.
The staff of Jiangpu Street told reporters that by 4:30 in the afternoon, if there is enough food here, the staff will give it to the sanitation station near the street, where nearly 50 workers can receive food benefits every day.
In other words, the food bank here can distribute more than 100 meals a day.
Imported goods have been dissatisfied in China
In real life, food production companies, catering stores, and supermarkets will have food surplus. Take supermarkets as an example. Since supermarkets have a fixed sales period, the food must be removed from the shelves and destroyed when the sales period expires.
"Some foods have passed the best taste period, but the taste worsens, but they are still safe. These are all temporary foods." said Zheng Yingnv, project director of the food bank and project director of the Shanghai Oasis Charity Development Center.
Moreover, fruits and vegetables actually have no shelf life, so many fruits and vegetables that are off the shelves are still fresh.
Rather than throw away the waste for nothing, donating to people in difficulty is undoubtedly a better choice.
One end is the food that the merchant originally had to deal with, and the other end can meet the needs of some community residents. The operating logic of the food bank is actually very simple.
"It is a bridge, which plays a role of coordination and balance between food waste and insufficient food, thereby greatly reducing the amount of food waste in the whole society." said Li Bing, founder of Shanghai Oasis Public Welfare Development Center.
In fact, the food bank is an exotic product.
According to statistics, the world's first food bank was born in Arizona in 1967, named St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance.
The purpose is to collect the excess food and distribute it to people in need.
Since then, food banks have a mature operating mechanism and donation culture in the United States, Europe, and Japan, and the recipients will not feel ashamed.
In China, when the food bank first appeared, it was somewhat unacceptable.
For example, some people who have real difficulties in their lives feel that eating the food that comes from the food is equivalent to begging and cannot get the food from the food bank. Some people who love petty and cheap will rob and take the food, causing the food bank to be unable to distribute the food to the people. Those in need did not play their due role.
In addition, food donor agencies also have concerns.
At first, food production companies and supermarkets thought it was good to hear that food banks can solve food waste. However, considering that the donated food has no clear domestic laws regarding the safety of food, some organizations are worried about using impending food for public welfare. "The reputation is not good", so "do good things to the end" and donate fresh food.
This is obviously inconsistent with the original intention of the Food Bank.
Use technology to achieve precise assistance
So, after years of exploration, how can the new food bank avoid these problems?
The reporter learned that most of the food in the food bank will go through multiple checks, including food inspections by supermarkets, manufacturers and other donation units, inspections by staff of non-profit organizations as "third parties", and recipients of nursing homes and communities. Once the food packaging is found to be damaged or there is no production date, it will be discarded immediately.
"The more attention we receive, the more we must control the quality of food. Now we have used blockchain technology to establish a huge food information database to ensure that every food that enters the recycling network is safe and reliable. The most important lifeline of a food bank." Li Bing said.
Through cooperation with communities, non-profit organizations, caring companies, etc., Oasis Food Bank has raised a lot of surplus food.
They entrust the community and various charitable organizations to distribute to different needy groups.
Since the grassroots organizations of the street have a better understanding of the situation of the residents in the community, the community special person is responsible for contacting the people in specific difficulties, so that precise assistance can be achieved.
Wang Qiuyue, director of the Shanghai Yanze Social Work Development Center, which is in charge of the operation of the Jiangpu Road Street Food Bank, told reporters that the Yanze Social Work Development Center will send a dedicated person to focus on the independent cases of the street, establish relationships with the needy people in the neighborhoods, and solve the problems of the families in various ways. Practical problems.
In order to regulate management, the Shanghai Food Bank also installed automatic food collection machines.
After scanning the ID card, press the corresponding button of the desired food, and the food will automatically fall out.
The operation mode is the same as the vending machine, but a valid ID card can only be collected once a day.
There is also a set of systems in the backend that can dynamically analyze the receiving situation of the masses, especially the receiving situation of key difficult service objects.
Wang Qiuyue said that this not only facilitates management, but also avoids repeated collections, allowing food to reach those who really need it.
In 2018, Shanghai Oasis Charity Development Center joined the global food bank network. The organization has 33 member countries (regions) around the world.
After joining the network, companies from all over the world can provide funds, materials and technical support to the food bank.
Since the Shanghai Oasis Public Welfare Development Center initiated the food bank project, the Shanghai Food Bank has avoided nearly 7 million tons of food waste, with a cumulative value of more than 30 million yuan, assisted 760,000 people, 248 recipient organizations, and companies that signed donation agreements with the food bank There are 202 stores all over the country.
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Food banks in these countries are in action
The whole world is involved in this fight against food waste.
Singapore, Japan, Canada and other countries have established their own food banks.
Special recycling outlets enter the mall
In 2012, Singapore Food Bank was incorporated.
In 2019, Singapore Food Bank moved its outlets into the mall.
In the central shopping malls of many commercial districts in the urban area, people can see a recycling point composed of 4 white recycling bins.
There is a donation guide sign on the recycling box to guide people to put the extra food here.
The four white recycling boxes are marked with pictures and texts, telling people what kind of food should be put into which box, and reminding people to handle with care to avoid packaging damage.
Save money for donors
Around 2000, the concept of food banks emerged in Japan.
The Japanese restaurant industry is known for pursuing the "artisan spirit".
According to data, many Japanese catering shops discard a large amount of “leftovers” of ingredients in pursuit of perfection.
And if these foods are processed, delicious dishes can still be cooked.
In Japan, merchants also spend a certain amount of manpower and money to process the remaining ingredients. After the cooperation with the food bank, the merchants who provide food do not have to worry about the subsequent processing of the food, and also save this part of the cost.
The beneficiaries will also feed back the food bank
Canada's first food bank was established in 1981.
The food in the food bank is mainly donated by institutions, shops or individuals.
Canadians believe that accepting social assistance when life is difficult can ensure the most basic life for themselves and their families. When their lives improve in the future, they can also donate to society and help others.
Therefore, many people who have received help from the food bank will turn back to become donors or volunteers to feed back the food bank.