When we were kids, our parents would always tell us to finish our food, especially when we ordered a big meal at a restaurant.

This is obviously because they don’t want to see their money wasted on unfinished food, especially if it cannot be brought home. But food wastage is actually a major global problem, with approximately one-third of all food produced for human consumption being lost or wasted.

Put another way, food wastage worldwide is equivalent to an estimated $2.6 trillion (around ₱146 trillion) in economic, environmental and social costs, according to a 2014 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

This is enough to fund the Philippines’ 2024 national budget of ₱5.768 trillion more than 25 times.

This is quite alarming, given that the non-profit, social-research group Social Weather Stations (SWS) found that 10.4 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger from April to June 2023. This is up from the 9.8 percent that the SWS recorded from January to March 2023.

Organizations like the non-profit Scholars of Sustenance (SOS) aim to reduce, if not completely eliminate, food wastage by 2030.

Ford Philippines announced in an August 2023 press statement that it is helping SOS Philippines with its goal by donating a Ford Transit van and a $30,000 (around ₱1.69 million) grant from the Ford Fund, which is the philanthropic arm of the American automaker.

The Transit had officially been discontinued for sale in the Philippines on August 2022.

No one goes hungry

SOS Philippines’ food rescue program aims to reduce food wastage by collaborating with its donors in the collection of surplus food, ensuring food safety in handling and delivery of the goods to partner communities. 

Ford Philippines said the organization can use the Transit to “proactively recover and transport non-perishable food items and subsequently transform the collected items into more nourishing meals to effectively address hunger within underserved communities while reducing food wastage.”

“We are fully committed to supporting SOS Philippines and its advocacy of serving undernourished communities and curbing food wastage in the country,” said Ford Philippines director of government and corporate affairs Josie Gonzalez.

“We trust that the Ford Transit will boost their mobility needs from various establishments to the communities who will benefit from this worthwhile endeavor,” she added.

SOS managing director for the Philippines and Thailand James Leyson said the group’s mission is to ensure that people don’t go hungry, given the abundance of food available.

“Reducing food waste and alleviating hunger requires a multifaceted restructuring of the entire food system, from production and distribution to consumption,” he said.

Do you think SOS Philippines has the right van to help keep Filipinos from going hungry?

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