The Malaysian Insight

WHEN Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad officiates the national food-bank programme on December 22, not many people will realise that the smaller-scale Penang-wide Mutiara Food Bank (MBF), which inspired this programme, is also marking a milestone.

Dr Mahathir is also due to launch the MBF’s much-awaited central kitchen, which is expected to increase the amount of food the programme will be able to “rescue” and distribute to the needy.

Renovations that cost the state government RM142,000 are almost complete for the kitchen, which will have a chiller, a dry food storeroom, and cooking and serving areas. It will also house MFB’s office.

Once the facility is up, Penang hotels will send excess food from their kitchens to MFB to be kept in the chiller room. The food will be heated, re-cooked and repacked by chefs to be distributed to needy households.

This will complement MBF’s operation of collecting unsold vegetables, fruits and baked goods from Tesco hypermarkets for distribution.

“We have 42 hotels, the Penang Hoteliers Association and the Penang Chefs Association are with us, sending us the extra food they have prepared for buffets and banquets,” said MFB deputy chairman Abdul Wahab Long.

The kitchen can also be used as a centre to prepare food during disasters or emergencies, he said.

Penang success story

Even before the setting up of the kitchen, MFB, which was founded by Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail in May last year when he was strategic adviser to then Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng, was already a success story.

When Saifuddin became minister after the May 9 elections, he presented the food-bank programme to Dr Mahathir, who gave his support to model a nationwide programme after it. Now, Saifuddin’s ministry is spearheading the programme nationwide.

Within the first seven months of its launch, the food bank had distributed food to some 7,000 recipients. The recipients are identified from the databases of Zakat Pulau Pinang (ZPP), the state welfare department, and Penang’s Equitable Economic Agenda (AES) programme.

 

MFB now benefits 31,429 Penang folk across 14 constituencies on the island and mainland. It has saved 261 tonnes of vegetables and fruits and 103 tonnes of baked goods from the landfill since its start last year.

“There are many out there with the heart to help but in the past, we did not have a platform to coordinate the food collection and distribution. We do now, with the food bank programme,” Wahab told The Malaysian Insight.

The central kitchen will greatly extend the reach of the programme as more donors and food caterers can come on board, he said.

“They have the excess food, while the government has the database of B40 recipients who deserve help. We just need to identify the recipients with the most critical needs.”

Sharing is caring

Meantime, Wahab said Penang is ready to assist other states interested to run a food bank by sharing MFB’s experience.

“After running the food bank for almost two years, we know the issues that will come up. It is not as simple as collecting food from donors and giving them away.

“The SOP (standard operating procedure) is important to make sure we truly help the recipients. We have to train the people who will be on the ground running the programme, like volunteers from the communities.”

Wahab said the success of the programme also depended on how well the local communities understood the process, the philosophy and humanity behind the food bank’s objectives.

“You need to know the recipients, what to give and how much to give them.

“What and how much you give an elderly couple will be different from what you give a single mother with several children.

“If you don’t consider this, there will be food wastage again, which defeats the purpose of the programme. You have to be meticulous on the job.”

Compassion and a genuine desire to help are also criteria for volunteers and operators of the food bank, he said.

“You also need compassion and to be able to treat the elderly and the children as your own family, regardless of race.

“Then, you will succeed in this job.” – December 21, 2018.