Thoda khao, thoda baato: How daily food redistribution works in India

Earlier this week food delivery app Zomato introduced a new feature called Food Rescue that offered customers within a certain radius cancelled orders at a discount However the program failed to convince many restaurateurs to come on boardmdashthey had concerns about potential damage to brand loyalty as there is was no assurance that food quality would be maintainedDespite being the worldrsquos secondlargest food producer after China India ranked 105th out of 127 countries on the Hunger Index in 2024 When countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh rank higher on this index as seen in 2021 2022 and 2023 it becomes a matter of national ego The solution may be in our kitchensAfter a long day of delivering fresh meals to the metropolisrsquo workforce around 250 dabbawalas begin collecting leftover food from homes across the city They regularly take this food to 200 to 250 people responding to calls from contacts within communities primarily between Nariman Point and MahimDhanushkodi Sivanandhan and Abhinas NayakWord of mouth has been their primary means of informing beneficiaries about food redistribution since it began in 2016 Most of their calls come from banquet halls corporate seminars and similar eventsSubhash Talekar President Mumbai Dabbawala Association and Founder Roti Bankmdasha nonprofit that redistributes leftover foodmdashsays ldquoWe aim to complete redistribution by 9 pm when the food is still safe to consume as we donrsquot have cold storage facilities Collection usually happens between 6 pm to 830 pm Around 250 dabbawalas are dedicated to collection On average we receive 20 to 25 calls daily and on weekends it goes up to 35rdquoThis small initiative in Indiarsquos largest metropolis is one of only a few services focused on distributing excess food to those in need Talekar who was raised in Byculla explains ldquoIf you take the Coastal Road the Western Express Highway or other pukka roads you miss the poverty that plagues the city But if you follow a dabbawalarsquos bicycle it will lead you through slums lining or sitting right in the middle of areas with the highest real estate prices in India or even in Asia Food scarcity is very evident in these underbelliesrdquoA community fridge at Mohammed Ali Road by All Men and Women Working for Humanity Always an NGO founded by Zohra Morbiwala PicAnurag AhireReports from the past seven years suggest that around 72 per cent of the waste generated daily in Mumbai comprises food waste including vegetable peels eggshells and meat scraps but also edible food that is either discarded or goes bad such as vegetables fruits and meat and cooked foodRobin Hood Army RHA a Delhibased organisation now active in 10 countries also provides a similar service in Mumbai operating across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region MMR ldquoThe organisation has divided the city into 28 sectionsrdquo Nidhi Sanghai the organisationrsquos Mumbai representative told Sunday midday ldquoEach managed by a representative with dedicated WhatsApp groups People who wish to donate leftovers can contact us through our website which has a link to the respective WhatsApp group The ldquoRobinsrdquo then coordinate with the representative in that areardquoldquoWe do our best to collect food from anyone who contacts usrdquo says Sanghai ldquobut on weekdays sometimes the volunteers arenrsquot always available as most of them are working professionalsrdquoAbout 250 dabbawalas collect leftover food from community events across Mumbai and redistribute it to the poorOn average each of RHArsquos 28 clusters in the MMR conducts two to three food redistribution drives per month If a donation comprises only five or six servings they encourage the donor to share it within their community with domestic help watchmen and others RHA organises redistribution drives for donations of 15 or more servingsWhile dabbawalas distribute leftover food to anyone they come across RHA organises drives in areas with known demand Both organisations do scent and taste checks for freshness before redistributionResidents of Powairsquos Manubhai Chawl were informed about food redistribution for Childrenrsquos Day they came ready with plates and bowls The crowd swells once distribution starts even as the Robins volunteers prioritise childrenThe cook who feeds this writer was among the crowd for pav bhaji When asked if she came to these drives regularly she said ldquoInko pehli baar dekha haihellip Aur log bhi aate hain kabhikabhi Main aayi kyuki free khaana nahi chhodne kahelliprdquo They are here for the first time but other NGOs drop by I came because you should never refuse free food Her friend thanked the RHA saying ldquoIt has been one year since we went to a restaurant to eat pav bhajirdquoHandling excess food comes with many challengesmdashcollection packaging reheating and distributing it before it spoils Former Maharashtra police chief Dhanushkodi Sivanandan who launched an initiative similar to Talekarrsquos also called Roti Bank explains ldquoNot many people handle collection and redistribution of leftover food in Mumbai There are challenges in handling food from weddings and large events such as collecting it late at night then immediately finding someone to distribute it to as itrsquos usually prepared the evening before Additionally reheating can sometimes diminish nutritional value The meals are often incomplete toomdashsometimes only rice or just dal or salad So I started my own facility where fresh meals are prepared and distributed across the city We have now expanded to Hyderabad Coimbatore and other citiesrdquoThe former Maharashtra DGP who redistributed leftover food during the COVID19 pandemic says ldquoI approached several fivestar hotels and clubs in Mumbai for surplus food However all the fivestar hotels refused concerned about legal liability if anyone fell ill after consuming their leftovers Even when I offered to take on the legal responsibility myself they raised concerns about brand reputation They didnrsquot want to risk their names if any issues arose so most of it is thrown away While some hotels may donate most fivestars have a policy of discarding leftoversrdquoAbhinas Nayak who runs a cloud kitchen in Navi Mumbai and a restaurant in Santacruz confirms this ldquoIt takes years to build a brand name and most hotel chains prefer throwing away surplus food instead of risking bad PR Most hotels discard even fresh leftovers because of this policy There are very few NGOs that successfully convince hotelsrdquo Nayak was the winner of MasterChef India Season Six 201920Talekar and Sivanandan who initially collaborated in the organisation the former founded say leftover food collection peaked during the COVID19 pandemic when many were migrating on foot to their native places Talekarrsquos organisation collected food from relief camps railway canteens and private kitchensAmong the NGOs involved in similar efforts was Jeevan Dhara However like Sivanandan Jeevan Dhara has stopped collecting leftovers but still distributes excess food if itrsquos brought to them Gene DrsquoSilva who handles Operations at Jeevan Dhara explains ldquoLogistics and funding are major challenges Storing leftover food reheating it and distributing it before it spoils requires substantial logistical support in the form of refrigerated vehicles and portable ovens which we lack IIT Bombay approached us for 200 plus plates per day of leftover food from their canteen but since we donrsquot have the kind of infrastructure we couldnrsquot collaboraterdquoA solution may be cooking Wellplaced sources tell Sunday midday that a major food redistribution organisation and a top food delivery app are in talks to redistribute all the cancelled ordersCommunity fridges are an effective solution for managing leftover food but they are still a rare sight in Mumbai Sunday midday visited Veera Desai Road to check on a community fridge that operated there between 2016 to 2018 According to a medical store employee next door the fridge was stolen two years ago and hardly any food was placed in it Another community fridge near Jio World Drive sits empty and unpoweredHowever Zohra Morbiwalarsquos organisation All Men and Women Working for Humanity Always has a solution Theyrsquove installed 15 community fridges in Marol Nagpada Junction Mazgaon Garden Mohammad Ali Road Bhendi Bazaar and other places To prevent theft they are in a wire mesh cage secured by a lock and chain ldquoI wanted to start an initiative to collect and distribute leftovers but challenges like latenight responsibilities and labour costs prevented me from doing so But Mumbai has money A small organisation like ours may not be able to afford this but there are big players who can easily do this But they donrsquot It says a lot about how seriously we take foodrdquoShe sheds light on what it takes to manage community fridges ldquoSince these fridges are located outdoorsrdquo she says ldquosome peoplemdashsometimes drug addictsmdashopen each packet taste the food and leave it back in the fridge Each fridge requires a dedicated volunteer to sanitise them regularly and remove any food that is no longer safe for consumptionrdquoFood management is tough A June 2024 research by Ashoka Universityrsquos Centre for Social and Behaviour Change highlights key factors contributing to food waste in Indian households including bulk buying to avail discounts impulsive buying difficulty in meal planning and cultural norms that prioritise serving excess food especially to children and guests Additionally many perceive small amounts of waste as inevitable the study saysSanghai says calls for leftover food have decreased in the past year which shows a growing apathy towards food wastage Earlier RHA would receive four to five calls per month for each of the 28 sections today the number has halvedldquoWe can manage our food much betterrdquo says Nayak ldquoespecially at home There are two types of waste One before cooking and the other after Carrot or radish peels for example can easily be repurposed for broths pickles or even made into crisps if cleaned properly Herbs can be wrapped in a moist cloth and refrigerated to extend shelf life You can also regularly check your fridge to see which items may spoil especially if you shop for a fortnightrsquos worth of groceries at once Unfortunately these things arenrsquot taught in schoolsrdquoWastage of cooked food is particularly painful ldquoAt home or in a hotelrestaurant no chef wants to see food thrown away because they put their heart and soul into itrdquo Nayak says ldquoBut policies especially in hotel chains that offer roundtheclock room service buffet breakfasts and so on generate too much wastage Once food is cooked its window for safe consumption is just 10 to 12 hours depending on the weather In the hospitality industry it may not be feasible to prepare food in small batches but at home you can easily measure ingredients and plan accordingly even when you have guestsrdquo He adds that it also matters how excess food is given away ldquoAs chefs we are taught that food should be presented well to enhance its appeal However when we give food away most of us overlook this aspectrdquoRHArsquos Sanghai shares a similar sentiment recalling an instance when corporate seminars combined multiple dishes including a spoiled one while donating them ldquoOur volunteer simply couldnrsquot accept the food which would have been enough for 10 to 15 people If they hadnrsquot mixed in the curd dish the rest of the food could have been eaten However since it was summer the curd item had started to spoil We forget that we are giving this food to humans just because they are poor doesnrsquot mean they should accept anythingrdquo72Percentage of the waste generated daily in Mumbai that consists of food waste