Currently, 14 million South Africans are at risk of going hungry every day, according to Stats SA 2018, but like many other countries, South Africa over-produces food. From farm to factory; from shop to table, one third of all the food produced in South Africa goes to landfill while the most vulnerable go hungry.
“As a good food business, Woolworths has a long-standing commitment to playing a role in achieving food security,” says Zinzi Mgolodela, Woolworths director of corporate affairs. “One Small Spoon is a call to action - a campaign to bring all our food security initiatives together and make it easy for our customers, employees and suppliers to take small but impactful steps in overcoming hunger.”
Mgolodela points out that through the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet fundraising programme, there is ample evidence of how small consumer actions add up to make a big difference. “It might seem like a slight thing to do, swiping your card at a till point for a small donation to be made by the retailer on your behalf. However, the cumulative effect is enormous. Over the past fiscal year alone, Woolworths has donated R80m to schools and charities across the country via the MySchool MyVillage My Planet programme. We believe we can augment our efforts and therefore impact in communities through the One Small Spoon campaign.”
At the core of the campaign is an online food security hub that provides the latest information about Woolworths’ food security partners and projects, and gives all South Africans the opportunity to engage and share the food security actions and activities in their communities. For more information on the One Small Spoon campaign, go to www.woolworths.co.za/onesmallspoon.
