KOLKATA GETS FIRST FOOD ATM, A DECENT STEP TO MAKE HUNGER FREE SOCIETY.

Kolkata Now Has A Food ATM For The Underprivileged!

A food ATM has come to Kolkata, courtesy Sanjha Chulha, a famous restaurant in the city. Installed outside their eatery, the refrigerator is open to everyone who wishes to donate leftover food for those who go hungry.

Hunger is a global menace that threatens to snatch lives away. Every human has a right to satiate his hunger and Indians are doing everything in their power to make sure food reaches the needy. This noble drive came into being as part of a 'Hunger Free Kolkata' initiative in partnership with P.R.A.N.

A unique, innovative and incredibly useful and noble concept by Sanjha Chulha, this ATM, installed outside the restaurant, is meant for the public to donate leftovers instead of wasting them. 

There is an astounding level of food wastage in this world, and India is no exception. Where millions live below the poverty line and barely survive on one meal a day, whenever we go out to eat, we either get the extra food packed or leave it behind at the restaurant. Even at home, we sometimes throw away excesses.

Now, you can make a two-fold difference to the world, thanks to Sanjha Chulha, CIT Road. It has installed a huge refrigerator, aka food ATM, where you can simply drop off any excess food you don’t want, either following a meal at the restaurant or from home/elsewhere. 

'Food ATM', a 320-litre refrigerator laden with leftovers, is ensuring that the poor and needy in the city do not go hungry, thanks to an initiative by a restaurateur here. Asif Ahmed, the co-owner of Sanjha Chulha restaurant chain, started the 'Food ATM' with support of three organisations (Rotary, Round Table, JITO) in front of one of his outlets in Park Circus to help curb food wastage and feed the needy. The refrigerator installed comes with a camera to keep a track of the storage capacity. This helps people gauge the available capacity of the fridge before they donate. Apart from this, the restaurant is now planning to roll out meal packages as donations to the underprivileged. "It's a transparent door refrigerator that is used to store food items. We are educating our customers to pack the leftover food and donate it. In addition to the leftovers from our outlet, people of the city are coming and donating food. Biriyani and bread are some of the common items. They are putting in fresh food as well,"

The refrigerator is topped with a placard saying "the amount of food India wastes annually is enough to feed entire Egypt for a year".

"One doesn't need any card to access the food. It's just the hunger that lets one access what they need. We are getting a good response from locals," he said.
Mr. Asif Ahmed plans to extend the service to his other three outlets in the city as well. The initial investment was around Rs 50,000, including the cost of the refrigerator. The restaurant is also planning to come up with budget meal packages, available only as donations for the poor and needy.

The food ATM went live on August 15 because what better day to help the needy enjoy their freedom to eat?