Chicago, IL – November 9, 2017 – The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) announced that the food banks in its network provided safe and nutritious meals to 7.1 million people around the world, increasing its impact by 300,000 over the year before and bringing the network closer to its goal to reach eight million people facing hunger and malnutrition by 2018.
In its recently published Annual Report GFN revealed that in the last year its network saved 940 million pounds of perfectly edible and saleable food from waste and redistributed it to people in more than 30 countries. GFN, which connects more than 790 community-based hunger relief organizations, also invested in projects that allowed these food banks to build capacity; these projects alone provided 865,000 people with access to food.
“Thanks to the extraordinary vision, leadership, and dedication of food bankers from around the world, there is an incredible momentum toward reducing food waste and providing long term hunger relief to communities in need,” said Lisa Moon, GFN President and Chief Executive Officer. “With the commitment and passion of our partners, I am confident that together we can continue our progress in the fight against hunger.”
GFN announced the 8 Million by 2018 Challenge in 2017 in light of the international community’s commitment to end hunger through the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Challenge’s goal is to provide nutritious meals to eight million people facing hunger and malnutrition by the end of 2018.
With the support of its partners, GFN plans to advance its technical and educational support to food banks and help build food banks’ capacity to rescue more food and serve more people. After the successful completion of a fundraising campaign, implementation of the 8 Million by 2018 Challenge began with the launch of the Challenge Fund, a competitive grants program for GFN members that supports the expansion of their service areas and the types of food they distribute. Recipients of the grants will be announced in January 2018. GFN has also identified organizations in countries where there is significant hunger needs and food banks poised for growth, and will partner with these organizations through an expanded offering of technical assistance, partnerships, and investment.
“While food banks served more hungry people in this last year than they have previously, one in 10 people globally still struggle daily to access nutritious meals,” said Lisa Moon. “The food banking solution has helped communities in more than 50 countries become more food secure. We have an opportunity now to scale that solution to help nourish the world.”
To learn more about GFN’s impact in fiscal year 2017, see its annual report.
