Singapore – Philips Foundation, with its mission to provide access to quality healthcare for disadvantaged communities through innovation, and The Food Bank Singapore have partnered to increase access to nutritious meals with the launch of three food-dispensing vending machines: two dry food-dispensing and one hot bento meal-dispensing vending machine.
Located at Blk 131 Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, these machines are funded by the Philips Foundation and are part of a larger joint educational initiative, “Powering better living through access to nutrition”.
According to The Hunger Report (2020)1 by the Lien Centre for Social Innovation, slightly over 10% of resident households in Singapore experienced food insecurity, during the period of July 2018 to June 2019.
This initiative therefore aims to increase individuals’ and households’ access to nutritious meals by making Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF)-endorsed meals available via the hot bento meal-dispensing vending machine. This initiative will also be supported by the dissemination of education materials to food beneficiaries on the use of healthy ingredients in meals and nutritious food preparation.