Taiwan’s official accession to the Global FoodBanking Network will boost Taiwanese food banks and provide more international resources to help the disadvantaged and needy, experts said on Sunday.
At a ceremony set to take place in Taipei yesterday, the Taiwan People’s Food Bank Association was to be officially named as a new member of the Chicago-based non-profit organization, linking it with a network of food banks worldwide, secretary-general of the association, Philip Chen, said.
The food banks donate food and other daily necessities to those in need and help reduce resource wastage. Membership of the global organization will also help the establishment of a new platform for direct contact between Taiwan’s food banks and international companies that donate food and other resources, he said.
Jeffrey Klein, president and chief executive of the organization, was scheduled to attend the inauguration ceremony to make the official announcement about Taiwan’s accession to the network and give a speech on building a network for food safety.
Taiwan’s food banks meet US criteria for rigorous food safety practices and good governance, Klein said yesterday.
Asked how the organization would help Taiwan’s food banks, he said “we want to help generate the resources, people, money and food so that they can increase the volumes coming into the food banks.”
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), who has proposed writing legislation for food banks to better help the disadvantaged while reducing the wastage of food and daily necessities, urged the government to make an effort to establish a national-level food bank system.
Founded in 2006, the Global FoodBanking Network develops and supports food banks in more than 20 countries around the world.
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