IPOH: With the aim of tackling food wastage, the State government today launched the ‘Perak Food Bank’ programme that will initially involve 111 primary schools in the Kinta Utara and Kinta Selatan districts here.
State Social Welfare, Women Development, Family and Welfare committee chairman Wong May Ing said this pilot project will benefit more than 33,000 underprivileged students, who will be sponsor recipients of bakery products by project partners FFM Marketing Sdn Bhd.
“The 200 students from Sekolah Kebangsaan Manjoi 1 and Sekolah Kebangsaan Manjoi 2 were the first recipients today,” she told the media after handing over the bun products here, today.
Wong said they were surpluses of unsold bakery products in nearby business premises.
Also present were Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry KPDNHEP Perak deputy director Khalid Tik and FFM Marketing area manager Cheong Chee Leong.
Wong said the selected schools will take turns every Thursday to receive the products according to a scheduled distribution list.
Besides this effort, she said the state government, with the collaboration of KPDNHEP, Pusat Aspirasi Anak Perak (PASAK) and the Perak Youth Chamber are also planning another food bank project involving the poor, single mothers, the disabled, senior citizen homes and orphanages.
A project ‘for the people by the people’, she said the program is hoped to create awareness among consumers not to prepare food more than what is required and for better food planning and management among food-related business operators.
“We are now in discussions for several supermarkets here and a few non-governmental organisations here to get involved in our food bank programmes as well,” she said. — Bernama
