Food Flow South Africa is working to redirect food grown by farmers for restaurants, to communities in need; donors can buy the veg for charities in need.
Cape Town, South Africa (29 April 2020) – Santa Shoebox Project recently promoted the amazing work being done by Food Flow South Africa. The organisation is supporting ten small-scale farms who were providing fresh produce to six restaurants. Now, charitable organisations receive fresh produce to distribute to vulnerable communities.
“Local farms are still growing food but many restaurants they deliver to are closed for the time being. Food Flow is shifting this produce to the families in vulnerable communities. By doing this, both small scale farms and those in need are supported. Since Food Flow launched 1-month ago, they’ve partnered with 20 community organizations across 25 communities to deliver 3,039 harvest bags.” – Santa Shoebox Project
Food Flow was launched to answer the need for both struggling small-scale farmers and struggling communities. The model is simple; they use donor funding to purchase fresh produce from small-scale farmers, then donate the fresh produce to charities supporting the very same communities. In the first three days of operations, 474 bags of food were donated!
The concept not only provides food to those in need, but it also supports the small economies within the communities by putting an income in the pockets of farmers, which in turn, ends us spreading through the neighbourhood.
“Food Flow supports a Food Livelihoods approach. Supporting small-scale farmers who are not a part of the large retailer supply chain to continue working and earning income throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are grateful to be one part of a large web of organizations, government, and academia working to provide food into the communities most heavily impacted by the lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic.”
“In many emergencies, more lives are saved in the long term if people do not lose their livelihoods and become destitute as a result of the emergency protocols.
Additionally, large scale food aid relies on canned and dry goods which often are less nutritious than fresh foods. Although this choice does have practical implementations in terms of storage capabilities and limiting contact between distribution points and communities, it does potentially limit the nutritional value which is a key element in supporting people’s immune systems during a health crisis.”
The concept is phenomenal and has the power to do more than just feed a community. If you would like to find out more or donate, you can visit their website here.
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