FOOD DONORS PROTECTION ACT 2020

• The Food Donor Protection Bill was passed unanimously in the Dewan Rakyat on 9 October 2019 and in the Dewan Negara on 19 December 2019.
• The Food Donors Protection Act was gazetted on 13 March 2020.

IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISM OF FOOD BANK MALAYSIA PROGRAM

1. Coordinator: Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living

2. Contributors: Supermarkets, Manufacturers, Food Manufacturers, Food Entrepreneurs and Hotels

3. Motivators: Key Strategic Partners, NGOs and Student Associations

4. Recipients: Poor and Destitute Families, Welfare Homes and University Students

ACHIEVEMENT

1. From August 2018 to December 2022, a total of 704,922 household members have successfully benefited from this Program. Indirectly, the Program has also managed to save 4,405 metric tons of food surplus.
2. As for the Student Food Bank Program, since this program was conducted from February 2019 to December 2022, a total of 21,025 Students have benefited from this program which has been conducted in 29 Institutes of Higher Learning (IPT).
3. The Food Donors Protection Act 2020 was gazetted on 13 March 2020. This Act was created to encourage food donations to the needy by alleviating the concerns of donors, especially the industry against the risk of legal action in the event of an untoward incident.

INTRODUCTION TO STUDENT FOOD BANK

1. The Student Bank Food Program is a continuation of the Food Bank Malaysia Program. This program aims to help students from the B40 family so that they can better focus on learning. The outbreak of this program is also a follow-up to the National Action Council on Cost of Living(NACCOL) Meeting No. 1 chaired by the YAB Deputy Prime Minister on 15 February 2019.

2. This Student Bank Food Program is implemented in collaboration between the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN), Strategic Partners, Institutions of Higher Education (IPT) and contributors to ensure smooth and more systematic implementation of the program.

STUDENT FOOD BANK PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

i- Managing the rising cost of living faced by students; and

ii- Reduce the burden of students so that they are more focused on learning.

iii- Students belonging to the B40 group (students belonging to families earning RM1000 and below will take precedence); and

iv- Students in need and identified from time to time.

IMPLEMENTATION CONCEPT OF STUDENT FOOD BANK

i- Food Pantry: storage of dry food items in a suitable room and managed by the assigned Student Association. Students who are eligible to receive Food Bank Student assistance shall receive a distribution of food according to a priorly set schedule.

ii- Central Kitchen: donations of food such as vegetables and fruits will be cooked and given to students who are eligible to receive Student Bank Food assistance.

Introduction

The Food Bank Malaysia (PFBM) program has been introduced as one of the ‘Inisiatif Peduli Rakyat’ program by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) to help the less fortunate to get food which can indirectly reduce the cost of living. The program is also in line with the goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 12.3, which is to achieve a reduction of half of the total food waste released by the retail and consumer industry by 2030.

The concept of this program is to save the surplus food that are still edible through the collection of contributors such as supermarkets, manufacturers, food entrepreneurs, hotels and corporate companies. The food collected will then be distributed to identified target groups from poor and disabled families, welfare homes, food aid centers, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) as well as underprivileged University students.

MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE FOOD BANK MALAYSIA PROGRAM

1. Inisiatif Peduli Rakyat - helping the less fortunate to get access to food supplies in order to alleviate their cost of living.
2. Increase Consumer Awareness - provide awareness to consumers regarding zero waste initiatives to prevent food waste.
3. Retail Industry - reduce wastage of food that can still be reused and reduce the operating costs of supermarkets.
4.  A More Systematic Food Surplus Management - Creating a more structured and organized food surplus management structure as one of the national level initiatives.