Local governments and businesses in Japan promote food drives

Local governments and private businesses across the country are actively promoting food drives that collect leftover food from households and donate it mainly to welfare facilities. Children’s cafeteria Cafeterias that provide free or low-cost meals to children in need.

It is attracting attention not only as a way to help the poor, but also as a way to reduce food loss. The Ministry of the Environment has created a guidebook that summarizes how to conduct food drives smoothly.

Since 2018, Yokohama City has implemented a food drive to conduct food inspections after confirming the safety of unopened food that can be stored at room temperature and has a shelf life of two months or more. The collected food is delivered to children’s cafeterias and single-parent households through the Yokohama City Council of Social Welfare and food bank organizations.