Dubai: The UAE Food Bank has announced the launch of the ‘1 Million Saved Meals’ campaign, which aims to offer food support to those in need, joining the efforts of the ‘1 Billion Meals’ campaign — the largest in the region to provide food support to the disadvantaged and vulnerable in 50 countries.
The initiative was launched in cooperation with 200 hotels and food establishments by Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, wife of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the UAE Food Bank.
Tweeting on the occasion, Sheikh Mohammed said: “Sheikha Hind bin Maktoum launched an initiative today under the umbrella of the UAE Food Bank to save one million meals from surplus food and distribute them to the needy during Ramadan in cooperation with 200 hotels and food establishments. More than 37 million people have so far benefited from the food bank since its establishment. Hind is a role model, my companion and friend in the path of goodness.”
Global battle against hunger
Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum said: “Since its establishment, the UAE Food Bank aided more than 37 billion beneficiary locally and globally, and we aim to continue expanding its operations. The UAE Food Bank is only one of many humanitarian initiatives by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and its role is to highlight the value and blessings of food. Food surplus is enough to feed many, and this Ramadan’s campaign is part of the ‘1 Billion Meals’ initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.”
The ‘1 Million Saved Meals’ campaign will collaborate with more than 55 hotels, 65 food institutions, 35 mega retailers and fruits and vegetables markets, 13 charity foundations, and ten central kitchens. In addition, 150 volunteers are directly supporting the campaign’s operations.
The campaign also provides an innovative solution to convert food waste that is not fit for consumption, after sorting it, into organic fertilizer and biofuel from excess cooking oil, in cooperation with the start-up company Reloop, which specialises in circular economy applications, recycling and converting waste food into organic fertilizer to achieve the ‘zero waste’ goal.
New momentum and 33,000 meals a day
Dawood Al Hajri, deputy chairman of the Board of Trustees of the UAE Food Bank and director-general of Dubai Municipality, said: “By joining the ‘1 Billion Meals’ initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ‘1 Million Saved Meals’ campaign, organised by the UAE Food Bank, provides new momentum to the initiative as directed by Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum to provide more than 33,000 meals per day during Ramadan.”
He added: “We are cooperating with Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives to achieve the humanitarian goals of the ‘1 Billion Meals’ initiative by providing food support to the needy and the vulnerable. We are also organizing, under the 1 Million Saved Meals Campaign, four sub-initiatives that aim to contribute to achieving food security.”
Purposeful sub-initiatives
The ‘1 Million Saved Meals’ campaign includes four sub-initiatives: the Goodness Kitchen Initiative, the Hotel Ramadan Buffet Initiative, the Ramadan Basket of Fruits and Vegetables, and the Ramadan Meer Initiative.
The goodness Kitchen initiative focuses on using the food waste at cooperatives, supermarkets and retail stores. It also cooperates with a number of central kitchens. The business model of this sub-initiative is based on assembling the components required to prepare specific meals after they are packed and delivered by the initiative’s partners to the UAE Food Bank’s warehouse, which in turn sends them to the central kitchen, where the meals are prepared and then distributed to needy families and workers.
The Hotel Ramadan Buffet initiative collects food surplus that is fit for consumption and available at hotel iftar buffets, and packs it into meals that are delivered to beneficiaries with limited incomes and labour housing in cooperation with the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department. This initiative also provides a qualitative and innovative solution to non-consumable food waste after being processed by recycling company Reloop into organic fertilizer used in green spaces and agriculture.
The Ramadan Meer initiative collects basic foodstuffs from cooperative societies, supermarkets and retail stores and delivers them to the Emirates Food Bank’s warehouses. There, they are packed into containing the elements required to prepare a nutritious meal and then distributed to beneficiaries across the UAE.
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The Ramadan Basket of Fruit and Vegetables focuses on preparing baskets that include vegetables and fruits in cooperation with the partners of ‘1 Million Saved Meals’ campaign, which are then distributed to underprivileged individuals and families.
In 2021 alone, the UAE Food Bank distributed more than 10 million meals to the needy. This was done with the help of several authorities, establishments, and companies that safely distributed food to people across the country.
