Hunger Month 2023
28th Apr 2023
Over the last seven years, Food Lover’s Market and its partners have done extensive fund-raising during the month of May, culminating with World Hunger Day on 28 May. The beneficiary of the funds is Food Forward SA, whose main focus is reducing hunger in South Africa by safely and cost-effectively securing quality food for those who need it. With over 30 million food-insecure South Africans, it’s easy to understand that hunger and food insecurity is a very serious issue in South Africa. This year, Food Lover’s Market approached key partners – such as one of our key legacy partners; Tru-Cape – to contribute financially at the onset of the campaign.
Shoppers have the opportunity to voluntarily buy a meal for a fellow South African at a Food Lover’s Market till point during the month of May – each meal costing a mere 56 cents. On World Hunger Day, 28 May 2023, Food Lover’s Market also matched any meal bought by a shopper.
This year, we went out and raised the meals from our trusted sponsorship partners, so you can be 100% sure that 2 million meals reach Food Forward SA. This is also us giving back and saying thank you to all our loyal customers, which allows us to make this magic happen!
Now we are offering an additional option if you’d like to assist further, where you can also purchase/donate meals to give to this lovely cause, in support of fighting hunger together. You can feed a person in need for just 56cents.
Food Lover’s Hunger Month raised 2.5 million meals in 2022, and this year we have ALREADY raised 2 million meals thanks to our suppliers and partners.
Donate a meal for only 56 cents!
How can you contribute?
To grow our donation, and donate a meal to someone in need, simply purchase the meal at the till at Food Lover’s Market store OR donate a meal online here. Donate a meal today for only 56c, during the month of May.[
WAIT, there’s more!
On World Hunger Day, 28 May 2023, WE will match every single meal donated on that day.
Tackling a real crisis
With 30 million food-insecure South Africans, it's easy to understand that hunger and food insecurity is a very serious issue. "With over 2 million meals already banked, we’re kicking off in a big way this year, and it makes sense as food vulnerability in South Africa is dire,” says Kate Marais, CSI Manager for Food Lover's Market.
“Over the last six years, the Food Lover’s Market Hunger Month Campaign has raised 6 190 063 meals donated, with 2 515 203 of these meals donated in 2022 alone - but this is not enough, and we can do better.”
“Last year we had some incredible support from our customers, including Steelcrest High School pupils in Middelburg who came together independently to fundraise for the campaign, and the University of Johannesburg sports students who raised 7500 meals. This spirit of Ubuntu has been pivotal to the campaign's success year-on-year,” says Marais.
Some sobering statistics
According to data from Stats SA for January 2023, food inflation has hit a 14-year high at 13.4%, while a study from the University of Witwatersrand's School of Physiology determined that 1 in 5 South African households don't have enough food to eat. 20% of South African households are food insecure, mostly residing in the Eastern Cape. Given these stats, a mere 56 cents could make an impact this May.
Enter Food Lover's Market Hunger Month and partners.
Last year, Food Lover’s Market and its partners changed their approach to collecting meals by making a large upfront contribution - this year, the upfront contribution has more than doubled. With Tru-Cape as the biggest donor, Food Lover’s Market's in-store Hunger Month campaign is supported by long-standing suppliers in both our fresh and groceries departments.
Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing Managing Director Roelf Pienaar says: “It is tragic that too many children and families face hunger daily in our beautiful country while at the same time, people globally waste one billion tonnes of food each year. According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP’s) Food Waste Index Report, a staggering one-third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted. The Hunger Month initiative by Food Lover’s Market, one of Tru-Cape’s important and loyal customers, helps address both these issues. For us at Tru-Cape, the fact that two million meals are already banked, and each meal will now cost only 56 cents is an extraordinary achievement. This will be the seventh year that Tru-Cape has partnered with Food Lover’s in this life-changing initiative. And we are proud to support an NGO such as Food Forward SA that collects and distributes healthy food to the most needy in a sustainable way before it is wasted. As a business owned by the growers at Ceres Fruit Growers and Two-a-Day in Grabouw and responsible for about 20% of South Africa’s apple and pear production, we understand first-hand the need for sustainable agriculture and the food security for which we are responsible.”
FoodForward SA, the beneficiary of Hunger Month and Food Lover's Market's year-round CSI partner, accepts nutritious surplus food donated by supermarkets and farms. This food is then distributed to the 2,750 beneficiary organisations that feed 985,000 people daily across all nine provinces. These beneficiary organisations include charities and schools to help children and families, the elderly, the homeless, and more.
Andy Du Plessis, MD of FoodForward SA, says, "This year will be the seventh consecutive year that FoodForward SA is privileged to be the beneficiary NPO of Food Lover’s Market’s World Hunger Month campaign. What an incredible journey it’s been, joining hands with Food Lover’s Market in the fight against hunger, along with their suppliers and customers, to ensure the success of an annual initiative that enables FoodForward SA to distribute nutritious meals to nearly a million vulnerable people a day, across all nine provinces. We call on all South Africans to support this year’s World Hunger Month campaign at Food Lover’s stores nationwide and help us continue the fight against hunger.”
Says Marais, “The bar has been set very high this year, and we aim to reach and exceed it. If ever there was a time to act, that time is now. Food inflation is biting, unemployment is at an all-time high, and our fellow South Africans cannot feed themselves. Join us in feeding more South Africans - from our table and yours.” Thank you to everyone involved for helping fight hunger together. Together, we can make an impact on people’s lives, and in our communities.
#FLMHungerMonth #WorldHungerMonth May 2023. Thank you for your big contribution Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing.
How is it ONLY 56 cents for a meal?!
You can feed a meal to a person in need for just 56 cents. 😱 😬 Wait what, 56 cents is all you need for a meal?! How?! Kate, Food Lover's Market CSI Manager, tells us how - watch this.
Midway Update - 19 May
We’re excited to give you an update on our Hunger Month results! We are just halfway through our campaign, and we have already raised 310,661 meals through YOU, our generous customers. If you would like to contribute, but would prefer to donate online, simply head over to the GivenGain page: https://www.givengain.com/cc/food-lovers-market-hunger-month-campaign
Back in the stores, Food Lover’s Market Paarl and the Paarl community continue to hit it out of the park, with the Boksburg store and customers also doing incredibly well! These two are definitely on the leaderboard!
Did you know you can also purchase Hunger Month meals at Food Lover’s Eatery stores? Food Lover’s Eatery Rosebank and its urban-dwelling fan base have also reached the TOP 20 – a huge achievement.
Thank you to all our customers for making a difference, and to our legacy partners, Tru-Cape. Remember, it costs just 56 cents to make a difference. If you want to better understand how it could possibly cost just 56 cents, you can watch our video explaining the fantastic work that Food Forward does to feed vulnerable South Africans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRh7fqvh4Ec
