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| Food ATMs: Feeding the poor and huntry | | | Dr. Parveen Kumar, Dr. D. Namgyal | 11/2/2019 10:26:33 PM |
| The world no doubt has attained great progress; but that progress has been achieved at the cost of equality. Still a lot of inequality persists in the world with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. The access to resources is heavily tilted in favour of few. While the production of food grains has set new records, yet millions across the globe go to the bed hungry. While some people have a surplus of these fundamental requirements such as food and water and often waste it, people across the world are dying of hunger and thirst. This problem is not new and has plagued our world for a long time.
To make proper use of the lest over food and to make its proper use, the concept of food ATMs is now gaining momentum as a sort of philanthropic effort by human being either individually or in aggregates. These food ATMs are an exciting new concept that seems to be taking a step in the right direction. The Food ATMs unlike the usual ATMs does not provide money to the peoples standing in queues waiting for their turn; but give them food that has been left unused from functions or from homes. Such ATMs can be seen at many places in the country installed outside public places like railway stations, hospitals etc. In the two years since it appeared on a Chennai footpath, the community fridges have filled the stomach of hundred of thousand of hungry souls. Food ATMs aim at eradicating world hunger by leveraging social goodwill and providing an avenue to make use of leftover food. One doesn't need any card to access the food. It's just the hunger that lets one access to what they need.
The concept of food ATMs
Food ATMs are primarily refrigerators with a transparent door that are placed in public locations across the country. These refrigerators are either stocked by the installing organization or are crowd sourced using donations from people across the neighboring area. The food and drinks that these fridges are filled with are free to be used by anyone who is in need. All one has to do is find a food ATM nearby, and get themselves a meal. Similarly, anyone who has extra leftovers can easily donate to one of these food ATMs instead of throwing the food away, thereby reducing the amount of food wasted by the society. There is no form of regulation imposed on these food ATMs and they function solely by mutual trust within the community. While there is no specific origin of the concept of food ATMs, the idea of shared refrigerators to help the community certainly seems to be taking off across the world. In the city of Ghent, Belgium, a fridge known as Freego is stocked daily by Stef Mintiens, a doctor and herbalist who fills it with fresh, homemade food. In conversation with Vice, Mintiens explained that he was inspired by a photo of someone in Saudi Arabia who had put a cupboard on the wall in his garden, and "people who didn't have a lot to live on could take leftovers". Similarly, a man in Spain set up what he called a "solidarity fridge" filled with food that would otherwise go to waste. He, in turn, got the idea from an organization in Germany called Food sharing, which helps connect the needy with surplus food.
The Indian scenario
In the country too several food ATMs can be seen popping up over the last few years. The National Capital Region Delhi and state of Tamil Nadu witnessed religious and social organizations setting up these Food ATMs since the year through 2016. In the city of Kolkata. one Asif Ahmed, co-owner of Sanjha Chulha restaurant chain, has recently to join the movement by starting a Food ATM in Kolkata. He opened it with the support of three organizations (Rotary, Round Table, and JITO) in front of one of his outlets in Park Circus to help curb food wastage and feed the needy. The refrigerator that has been installed in Kolkata is topped with a placard that says "the amount of food India wastes annually is enough to feed entire Egypt for a year". It is an important idea to keep in mind while thinking of the impact of these food ATMs. The point of focus is not just that all the people around the world go hungry every day, but also the fact that enough food to feed them all goes to waste regularly. This is not just a crisis of imbalanced supply and demand; it is more about getting the food that these people need, to them.
A food ATM outside the Surat Railway station in Gujarat being taken care of by Arun Shetty, President Southern Gujarat Hotels and Restaurant Association has kept staffer for this purpose. The staffer collects leftover, but untouched food from the hotels, packs it in plastic transparent bags and stores it in freezer. A notice is also put on the freezer mentioning that food is of good quality to feed hungry people free of cost. They also collect food from other hotels and restaurants. Peoples have started contacting them to donate different food items. The food ATM remains open for 24 hours. The staffer also checks the food item regularly for its quality.
The food ATMs are such a unique, noble and successful endaveour as they attempt to solve both sides of the problem in a simplistic and easy-to-achieve manner. On the one side these address the problem of food wastage while on the other had address the hunger trying to ensure food security for all. It is one of the most humane solutions possible to the worldwide problem of hunger. |
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