(VNF) - Foodbank Vietnam, a charitable project was recently launched, aiming to reduce food waste and support the needy people.

100 bowls of soup were offered to the homeless in HCM City on January 20 (source: DT News)

Foodbank Vietnam is a joint project by the Vietnam Council of the Red Cross (VCRC), the Youth Social Welfare Centre and several food companies.

The project will be run along the lines of food banks around the world, soliciting donation of food from companies and organisations and handing over whatever it gets to needy people.

On the first day of the operation on January 20, Foodbank Vietnam’s volunteers provided meals for disadvantage children and staff at the Thi Nghe Orphanage and other 100 bowls of soup for the homeless in HCM City.

The activity will soon be expanded throughout the country.

It also plans to set up a chain of standard food stalls which will sell to poor and disadvantaged people at low prices. There will be activities to educate people about not wasting food.

Foodbank Vietnam would call on the public for the supply of redundant food (source: DT News)

In the long term, the Foodbank Vietnam plans to establish a network of stores to serve the purchase of farm produces from farmers to persify the food supplies for the poor.

According to statistical report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), hunger is still one of the most urgent challenges to development facing the world nowadays, despite the amount of food produced exceeds the demand.

In particular, one-third of the food produced for human consumption, amounting to around 1.3 billion tonnes, is lost or wasted every year, causing a loss of around USD940 billion. However, up to 800 million people around the world still face hunger so the foodbank model is common worldwide.Vietnam is ranked second in the food waste index in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a survey conducted by Electrolux./.

( VNF )