Gov’t and companies start program versus hunger, malnutrition
THE GOVERNMENT and private sector have started an anti-hunger movement that seeks to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in the country.
“Hunger persists as a complex, multidimensional problem which we face as a nation,” Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles, who heads an inter-agency task force against hunger, told an online news briefing on Tuesday. “This movement calls on all organizations and each and every Filipino to help our fellow Filipinos.”
The program seeks to solve problems in food production, distribution and accessibility and help poor families.
Individuals, organizations, companies and other concerned groups may contribute to the anti-hunger crusade by being involved in various programs that support farmers and food producers, Mr. Nograles said.
They may also support malnutrition advocacy for kids below five years and pregnant women and lactating mothers, and through meal donations, he added.
The task force against hunger, created last year through an executive order, mobilizes government resources to achieve zero hunger and end other forms of food deprivation.
“We hope to turn over our national food policy to the next administration,” Mr. Nograles said, adding that the goal is to eradicate hunger by 2030 according to sustainable development goals of the United Nations.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s six-year term ends in 2022.
A Social Weather Stations poll in September showed that about 7.6 million Filipino families had experienced hunger in the past three months.
The founding members of the anti-hunger movement include some of the country’s biggest companies such as Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc., Dole Philippines, Inc., Johnson & Johnson’s Philippines, Inc., McDonald’s Philippines, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. and San Miguel Corp.
The companies have pledged to provide 100,000 meals for communities in the capital region and key areas nationwide through the Ronald McDonald House Charities’ McDonald’s Kindness Kitchen.
A total of 3,000 infant kits for children below two years old will also be distributed. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
