Gabrielle Kirstein, Founder, Feeding Hong Kong

Food waste in Hong Kong is a big problem. Every day, more than 3,300 tonnes of food waste is sent to our city’s landfills, much of it good to eat. To put that in context, that’s roughly the equivalent of 8 million meals!

At the same time, there are more than 1.3 million people living in poverty in Hong Kong, struggling to afford food, every day. That includes up to 1 in 2 seniors and 1 in 4 children. So, on the one hand we have food being wasted, on the other hand we have people in need of food This is where Feeding Hong Kong comes in – to bridge this gap through food banking!

We opened the doors of our Foodbank in 2011 after realising that each day, in the normal course of business, many food companies were throwing away perfectly good food -  Fresh bread that hadn’t sold by closing time, fruits and vegetables that were past their prime but still packed with nutrition, packaged foods with minor package issues.

At the same time, there were 100s of charities across the city seeking support to feed vulnerable people – crisis shelters, senior homes, community centres and more.

No food company wants to throw good food away. But if they are going to donate that food, they want to be assured that it’s safe, that it’s sustainable, and that it’s going to help those that need it the most. So, we set out to build a safe, sustainable, professional link between companies with quality surplus food and charities with need. 

Thirteen years later, we’ve come a long way! During this time, we’ve joined hands with over 600 food companies;

Saved 8,000 tonnes of quality food from landfill; supplied 179 frontline charities with food donations; and supported 25 million meals for vulnerable communities.

The heart of our operation is our Foodbank in Yau Tong. Here, we manage a temperature controlled warehouse and a fleet of trucks, and can handle fresh, frozen and ambient foods by the case, pallet or even container! 

And at the heart of the Feeding HK Foodbank are our volunteers – Over 200 people a week help us save, sort and share food with the community.

Our Bread Run is the perfect example - every Tuesday and Thursday night volunteers of all ages from across the city help us collect leftover baked goods from individual bakeries at closing time, and drop them off at one of our collection hubs. 

Our volunteers also regularly champion Food Drives, often around festive times such as Christmas, encouraging friends, family and colleagues to donate much-needed shelf staple goods, such as rice, noodles, and canned goods. 

These food drives are a fantastic way to help us fill the gaps between the food we rescue as surplus– best described as a surprise chain! - and the daily essentials most needed by our charity partners.

Our main focus every day is working directly with food companies to provide a solution for their surplus. However, ultimately, our goal is to reduce the amount of food wasted - full stop!

To achieve this, we need to work with businesses and individuals as the majority of food waste in our city – over two-thirds comes from households, from you and I. This means by making small changes to how we shop, cook and handle leftovers, each and every one us can take action against food waste and make a difference. 

Making a change needs the commitment from all levels of staff, ground up and top down.  At Feeding Hong Kong, we are optimistic though that change can happen. More and more individuals are looking at how they can be more thoughtful in their relationship to food.

And more and more food businesses are actively seeking ways to reduce the negative environmental impact of food waste, whilst maximising the positive social impact created through donating surplus food. For these companies it’s a triple win – for our planet, for people, and for the bottom line!

The government has been pro-active in creating programmes to support and encourage businesses to take action to tackle food waste - for example the Food Wise Charter and the Food Wise Eateries Scheme.  They have also introduced trial smart food waste recycling bins in housing estates across Hong Kong, as well as significantly extended the fantastic “6” recycling shops and pop-up stations across the city. This combination is powerful and positive! 

However, while extending facilities and introducing new technologies and innovation, are playing a key role in tackling food waste, the most important first step is to reduce what we are throwing away in the first place.  This is what drives us at Feeding Hong Kong to raise awareness about the environmental problems presented by food waste. To talk about the reality of food need in our city and to share solutions that can help –  solutions such as food banking!

Food waste is a problem all year-round, but festive seasons are times when food waste can soar. The recent Mid-Autumn Festival is a perfect example! This year, we saved and redistributed over 71,000 surplus mooncakes but each year it’s estimated over 3 million unwanted mooncakes end up in our city’s landfill. 

Christmas can similarly be a time of food excess. But the good news is that there are lots of small steps that every individual can take to reduce food waste, both across the festive season and throughout the year. 

Planning meals ahead of time and making a detailed shopping list is a practical way to avoid over-purchasing ingredients. It's amazing how going in with a shopping list can keep you focused and curb the temptation of festive impulse buys which may end up getting wasted!

For most of us, Christmas is a time to celebrate with extra special meals. However, for Hong Kong’s most vulnerable, such celebrations are often far from reach – when you’re struggling to afford the basics, festive treats are tough. This is where the Feeding HK Santa Sack Campaign comes in! 

With your support, we are aiming to deliver 6,000 special festive food packs – our “Santa Sacks” – across our charity network this festive season. Each “Santa Sack” is tailored for either a family or senior and is packed with enough wholesome non-perishable ingredients for 10 meals - plus some extra festive goodies! 

You can support our campaign by dropping off donations of rice, noodles or canned food at one of our Community Collection points – we have over 10 scattered across Hong Kong. Or you can make a financial gift. For every $150 you donate, we can source, pack and deliver one extra special food parcel for a family or senior this festive season – it’s a Christmas gift that will truly make a difference.

Listeners can find out more on our website at feedinghk.org. Here you can also sign up to our monthly newsletter to learn more about Feeding HK’s work across the community and how you can get involved.

Every day of the year, Feeding Hong Kong is on a mission to bridge the gap between surplus and need in our city. But we cannot do it alone. With your help though, we can deliver an extra serving of food and joy this festive season, and continue to join hands across the community to feed people, not landfills!

This morning I would like to dedicate The Onion Song by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.