OVER 45,000 households have benefitted from the nationwide Food Bank Malaysia programme that started from late last year, said Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

He said from August last year until last month, 45,850 families have received 1,055 metric tonnes of “rescued” food.

“The programme is going into every state. In the Federal Territory, we have the food bank running in Wangsa Maju, with Aeon as our partner.

“In Negri Sembilan, we have NSK, and in Johor, we are also working with the local Islamic affairs department. They go into Orang Asli villages with the food aid,” he told reporters at Universiti Teknologi Mara in Permatang Pauh today.

The Food Bank Malaysia programme was officially launched in December in Penang, the pioneering state for the food bank initiative.

Saifuddin started Penang’s successful Mutiara Food Bank (MFB) in May 2017 when he was strategic adviser to then chief minister Lim Guan Eng. He expanded the project nationwide after becoming minister last year.

Under the programme, hypermarkets and supermarkets are invited to donate vegetables, fruits and baked goods that they could not sell. The perishables that are still good for consumption are collected daily by the food bank and distributed to needy households.

In Penang, since the project started two years ago, 536 tonnes of food items have been rescued from becoming wastes to benefit 37,000 poor households.

Today, Saifuddin also launched the new Food Bank Siswa programme at UiTM Permatang Pauh that benefits some 1,000 poor students from the campus and the nearby Politeknik Seberang Prai, who do not have enough to spend on food.

The campus has a pantry stocked with dried food items like cereals, instant noodles, beverage mix and biscuits that the identified student recipients will have access to. 

The pantry is also run and managed by the student representative council, the minister said, adding that the experience will also teach them volunteerism, humanitarian values and organisational skills.

Saifuddin said if the university has a kitchen and the capacity, it can also handle fresh food items in future.

“Students can cook the food themselves and eat together. Or we can also send cooked and packed food,” he said.

For the Penang Food Bank Siswa programme, nasi kandar outlets under the Malaysia Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (PPRIM) will also sponsor cooked food. The association also donated a van to MFB today.

The campus food bank, which will be introduced in 20 public higher learning institutions nationwide, is an extension of the main food bank programme.

Saifuddin said he hopes the campus food bank in Penang will again be the model for other states, like MFB.

“Penang, which has established its food bank with the strong support and commitment of the state government, is always the model.

“The Food Bank Siswa programme rollout is now beginning. We will go as far as Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

Similar food banks have also been set up at Universiti Malaya and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre. Most campuses are in the pipeline for the new programme.

Universities were giving the programme strong support, Saifuddin said, while 430 supermarkets and hypermarkets under the ministry’s supervision were willing to make contributions. – March 23, 2019.