The Chamber Young Executives Club CSR sub-group visited Food Angel at its newly launched experience centre on 13 February to learn more about its work in the local community. Food Angel helps disadvantaged people in Hong Kong by providing hot and nutritious meals, and also works to raise awareness about food waste and elderly poverty. 

During this “Foodstep Journey,” members learnt about these issues, first through a series of activities at the centre including a virtual reality film and the preparation of meal boxes.

They then visited Sham Shui Po, where members got a glimpse into the daily lives of Hong Kong’s underprivileged elderly people who collect cardboard boxes to earn a living. 

Members were divided into two groups to bundle up cartons, then carry them through the streets to different checkpoints before finally reaching a local dealer where they exchanged the boxes for money. Through this activity, members experienced first-hand the difficulty of manoeuvring the heavy boxes through the crowded streets and on the roads, to earn only around HK$4 for their efforts. 

According to Food Angel, Hong Kong’s daily per capita domestic waste generation rate is 1.36kg. This is the highest when compared to other developed cities in Asia, such as Taiwan at 1kg, Seoul at 0.95kg and Tokyo at 0.77kg. Food Angel produces more than 7,200 meal boxes every day, after rescuing 5 tonnes out of the 3,300 tonnes average daily food waste in Hong Kong. Obviously, a great deal more can be done to reduce food wastage in the city and to rescue some of this food from going to waste.

Members said that the event had inspired them to rethink their attitude to food waste and helped them gain a better understanding of poverty issues among the elderly. It also inspired them to consider ways they can contribute and serve the community in Hong Kong.