Feeding the needy with surplus food from hotels

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, Coimbatore District Hoteliers Association and No Food Waste organisation have joined together to collect surplus food from hotels and serve the needy.  

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Coimbatore District Hoteliers Association (CDHA), and No Food Waste have joined hands for a noble cause – collect surplus food from restaurants in the district and distribute it to the needy.

Under the initiative, expected to become operational soon, volunteers of No Food Waste would collect excess food from restaurants in the morning and noon.

Designated Officer of FSSAI, Coimbatore, K. Tamilselvan, said the initiative was proposed to hoteliers during a recent meeting of CDHA.

“Hoteliers have welcomed the initiative and promised to provide surplus food to No Food Waste. No Food Waste will provide a toll-free number to all hoteliers for intimation on food collection. We have requested hoteliers to avoid donating stale food and easily perishable items,” he said.

CDHA would also provide a vehicle and vessels to No Food Waste team for food collection and distribution.

“As of now, volunteers of No Food Waste are feeding around 900 people on normal days and around 2,000 on auspicious days. Under the new initiative, we are expecting to increase the capacity and feed around 3,000 people on normal days and 10,000 on auspicious days,” said No Food Waste founder Padmanaban Gopalan.

“We have asked the requirements of No Food Waste such as vessels needed for collection and distribution of food and other storage facilities,” secretary of Coimbatore District Hoteliers Association M. Sivakumar said.

The FSSAI is planning to convene a meeting of caterers in Coimbatore and make them part of the initiative. The caterers will inform No Food Waste volunteers in advance about marriage functions and intimate when there is excess food.

No Food Waste is part of the Indian Food Sharing Alliance that was formed by the FSSAI with the motto “save food, share food and share joy”.