The Department of Social Welfare recently announced that it will start a major effort to address the problem of hunger and undernutrition, especially among children. The Food Stamp Program (FSP) aims to address involuntary hunger, malnutrition and stunting among Filipinos.  Through the FSP, beneficiaries can buy selected nutritious foods in accredited farmers-driven stores and other accredited merchants.  Through a whole-of-nation approach, the program aims to provide monetary-based assistance in the form of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card that will be loaded with food credits amounting to Php3,000 to purchase a select list of food commodities from partner merchant stores.  The program is intended for individuals and families determined to be in a “state of active crisis” or “crisis situation” or needing financial or material support from the National Government, whether or not as a form of augmentation to that provided by client’s LGU, based on the assessment of a DSWD social worker.  Special target beneficiaries of the Program are malnourished preschoolers aged 3 to 5 old, children at risk of becoming malnourished or those who are underweight for their age but are not yet malnourished as identified by LGU officials/staff, health workers or teachers.  The BBM Administration, having assigned the highest priority to food security in its Agenda, must be thanked for institutionalizing the government’s flagship anti-hunger program through Executive Order 44.  This program was pilot-tested in 2023 with 2,000 household beneficiaries across the country.

            Knowing Philippine political and economic realities, however, it is predictable that government’s efforts to solve the hunger problem will never be enough.  As a reminder of the limited resources of the Philippine government, just recall the great controversies around the 2025 National Government Budget when essential funding for education and health was shifted to other purposes, some of which were labeled “pork barrel”.  The private sector must always be ready to supplement the efforts of the Government in addressing the problems traced to poverty.  That is why, I would like to cite here some of the initiatives of the business sector and civil society to address the problem of hunger in the Philippines, especially of children.  I hope these examples can serve as role models for many more efforts from the private sector to “feed the hungry,” the very first corporal work of mercy mentioned in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

            I will begin with the one with which I am most familiar because I belong to the board of the foundation called the Philippine Food Bank Foundation.  Started more than seven years ago, through strategic partnerships, this Foundation secures food products from various sources and redistributes them to marginalized communities with the help of grassroots movements. It was on February 22, 2017 that the initial donation of canned milk products was given by Alaska Milk Philippines.  Since then numerous food processing enterprises, restaurants, canteens, hotels and other establishments that have soon-to-expire or surplus food have been channeling their food donations through the Philippine Food Bank Foundation, which in turn has developed the expertise and logistical systems to channel the donated food items to orphanages, public and private schools with marginalized students, parish organizations in depressed communities, hospitals, prisons and many others among more than 150 beneficiary institutions, reaching about 3 million people, the vast majority of them undernourished children. In addition to the food items donated in kind, the Foundation also solicits cash donations to cover its operational expenses, mainly wages and transport costs.  Among the food donors are Alaska Milk Corporation, All Day Supermarket, Allegro Beverage Corp., Anchor Milk, Amici Pasta, Andre Kahn Vegetables, Arla Milk, Rizi, Caramia Cakes, Century Pacific, In., Colgate-Palmolive  Phils, Concept Foods,  Delbros, Del Monte Phils., Dole Philippines, Dunkin Donuts, Energen, Gardenia Bakeries, Grab, Green Cross, Holly’s Milk, Jollibee, Krispy Kreme, Makati Sports Club, Mama Sita’s, Mary Grace, Meadow Fresh Milk, Monde Nissin Corp, Nutri-Asia, Pan de Manila, Pick Up Coffee, Procter & Gamble, RFM Corporation, Shakey’s Pizza, Starbucks, Subway, Toscana Farms, Unilever Philippines, and URC.  I would like to give special mention to Starbucks that account for more than 50 percent of the total value of the food donations.  Its donations also have the widest reach all over the Philippine Archipelago.  More recently, we also have received generous offers from hotels like Holiday Inn and Sheraton to share with the Food Bank the surplus food from the buffets of their restaurants. 

            Then there is the Rise Against Hunger, Philippine Chapter, which provides meals through school feeding programs while empowering communities by implementing a holistic approach to overcoming hunger.  Its programs nourish lives one meal at a time in the fight against hunger.  There is the Good Food Farm that has a mission to alleviate hunger through a community farm that provides a sustainable source of vegetables and fruits to improve food security and reduce malnutrition.  This program provides produce to local food pantries, including the Good Food Grocer.  It also trains the community about sustainable agricultural practices and food justice.  The Good Food Grocer is more than a Food Bank.  It is a place for the community to gather and to distribute food surplus of enterprises to families who are marginalized.  The food items include fresh fruits and vegetables; staple food items (rice, milk, canned goods, etc.); essential household items (cooking oil, soap, detergents, etc.); and hygiene kits. 

            The Good Food Kitchen improves the nutritional content and diet diversity among food-insecure Filipino households by making affordable, nutritious food products available.  The kitchen also serves as a nexus for community development activities focused on health and nutrition, income generation, livelihood and people empowerment.  This food kitchen is supplemented by the Jeepney Kitchen and Food Bank by a customized jeepney with a fully-equipped kitchen which brings freshly cooked nutritious meals to hundreds of thousands of people facing hunger.  Meals are provided up to five times a week at the mobile kitchen free of cost with various menu items.  This Jeepney Kitchen provides immediate access to nutritious meals to identified families facing moderate to severe hunger, prioritizing the most vulnerable, including children, mothers, expecting women, differently abled individuals and the elderly.

            The Rise Against Hunger synergizes with local organizations, especially at the LGU level, in supplementation programs that address the dietary needs of children facing malnutrition by providing nutritious meals daily and conducting nutrition education classes for mothers and volunteers to implement in their respective households.  These programs have proven to increase enrollment rates, reduce absenteeism and improve food security at the household level as well as improve the nutritional status of school-age children for proper development.  There is a food bank in Nueva Vizcaya that allows farmers to donate their surplus produce in exchange for food and household supplies.  The donated fruits and vegetables are then distributed to children in the surrounding schools or processed in a fruit juice factory built by NVAT.   Through this program the disposable incomes of farmers and their families are improved; the dietary needs of children are supplemented and food wastage is prevented, with the subsequent reduction of the carbon footprint.

            There is an element of “teaching the poor to fish.”  This is through what are called “sky farms” which promote sustainable agriculture by using untenable and often unused rooftop spaces to establish hydroponic sky farms for high-yield products which can serve the wider market of offices, schools, hotels and restaurants in the neighborhood.  The produce from the sale is used by sponsoring companies in the packaging of fortified rice meals intended for feeding programs.  There are also livelihood programs through which participants are provided with income-generating opportunities with the advice of resource speakers who share their expertise and insights on various skills and competencies.  To be continued.