In episode five of Food For Change: Serving Solutions for People and Planet, despite the many challenges facing our food systems, we celebrate how food banks transform surplus into nourishment, opportunity, and hope for a more sustainable future.
조마르 플레라스 shares how Rise Against Hunger Philippines evolved from hosting meal-packaging events to launching the Philippines’ first food bank in 2018. He highlights their innovative partnership with farmers in Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal, where up to half of vegetables are rejected for cosmetic reasons and wasted. By creating a food bank and barter system at the trading post, farmers can exchange surplus vegetables for essentials, while recovered produce supports school feeding programs that reach about 20,000 people. Jomar also describes their new women-led food processing plant, which turns excess crops into healthy snacks for schools and products like tomato puree for local businesses — creating livelihoods, reducing waste and improving children’s nutrition.
리사 문, CEO and president of The Global FoodBanking Network, emphasized that with climate change threatening food production, the world cannot afford to waste a third of its food, and nutritious, safe surplus must be redirected to people facing hunger. She outlined GFN’s four priorities for the future: strengthening food banks in the Global South, particularly in communities most affected by hunger and climate shocks; supporting emerging food banks through GFN’s 액셀러레이터 program to help new organizations grow quickly; expanding access to nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables by partnering with farmers and producers; and ensuring food banks are active players in broader food systems transformation. She highlighted food banks not just as hunger relief organizations, but as essential actors in building equitable, sustainable and resilient food systems worldwide.
Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of The Global FoodBanking Network.
Food For Change: Serving Solutions for People and Planet is a podcast by The Global FoodBanking Network, where we whisk together big ideas, bold innovations and inspiring action to serve up solutions for people and the planet.
Why 변화를 위한 음식? Because right now, one in eleven people face hunger while one-third of all food goes to waste — and that’s contributing up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But here’s the good news: there are brilliant solutions out there and passionate people dedicated to creating meaningful change.
Each episode brings together the sharpest minds in hunger relief, food recovery, climate action and food policy — who are reducing food waste, improving nutritious food access and addressing the gaps in our global food systems.
