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On August 11th and 12th, The Global Food Banking Network (GFN), food banks and food industry representatives convened at the UN offices in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for the “Food Banks of Central America and the Caribbean” meeting. Organized the Banco de Alimentos de Republica Dominicana, with support from GFN, the Vice President of the Dominican Republic, Margarita Cedeño de Fernández, and the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the event aimed to highlight ways through which regional food banks could improve their efficiency and impact.
Participants, which also included Banco de Alimentos de Costa Rica, Asociacion Civil Alimentos Solidarios (El Salvador), Banco de Alimentos de Honduras and Bancos de Alimentos de México (BAMX), shared best practices and discussed ways to develop stronger relations with regional donors. Notably, BAMX’s experience in rescuing fruits and vegetables to increase food capture was looked upon as a success from which other food banks can learn.
Discussions at the event also focused on raising the standards of food bank management, minimizing the quantity of food wasted and increasing the number of high-quality volunteers.
By the meeting’s conclusion, GFN and the food banks resolved to harness the experiences, practices and contacts of more established food banks and to leverage GFN’s new e-Learning platform more.
“ ‘Food Banks of Central America and the Caribbean’ allowed GFN to nurture its relationship with regional food banks and to collaborate on ways they can source more food for those in need,” Alfredo Kasdorf, GFN Regional Consultant to Latin America, summarized.