Indonesia is currently listed as one of the countries with the highest food waste production in Southeast Asia. Each year, millions of tons of food are wasted and left to rot in landfills, releasing methane gas that contributes to global warming and climate change. Ironically, amid this abundance of food waste, Indonesia continues to face a hunger crisis. Our World in Data reported 38,860 deaths caused by malnutrition in 2021 alone.
To address this issue, the community service team from the Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing at Universitas Gadjah Mada (FK-KMK UGM), led by Marina Hadiyanti, S.Gz., M.Sc. from the Department of Nutrition and Health, has partnered with Komunitas Berbagi Bites Jogja (BBJ) to support food waste reduction initiatives. BBJ is a community initiative under the Center for Pancasila Studies UGM, with a mission to rescue surplus food and redistribute it to those in need.