Owning and operating a restaurant is an incredibly difficult business.
It’s incredibly difficult to predict how much you’ll serve each day.
This means that many restaurants will throw away a lot of food, or serve you food that isn’t at its best, the next day, or even scarier, the next.
But there is one restaurant in India that has eliminated food waste, but to also benefiting the community at the same time!
Pappadavada, a restaurant in Kochi, India, had a fridge installed outside the eatery so homeless people could get food.
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Minu Pauline, the owner of Pappadavada, is the one who came up with this brilliant idea.
She says that she wanted to do something to benefit her community when she saw a homeless woman eating from a trashcan.
When she saw this woman, Pauline felt guilty.
As a restaurant owner, Pauline has seen so much food thrown away on a daily basis.
So, she decided to install the refrigerator in an accessible place, and nicknamed it “Nanma Maram,” or “Tree of Goodness”. Since the fridge is open everyday, anyone can come by and use it at any time. No questions asked.
In addition to the food from the restaurant, this fridge also receives generous donations from restaurant patrons and others. The only requirement is to put the date on the wrapper when you put the food in the fridge, so that those who take would know how long it’s been in the fridge.
This is probably the last thing Pauline has to worry about, though.
The demand is going through the roof, even with the donations and the food coming from the restaurant.
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Because so many people have been taking food out of the fridge, the fridge needs to be restocked often. In fact, Pauline herself donates 70 to 80 portions of food on a daily basis.
Still, the supply doesn’t last for long. “There’s days when I put 100 (portions of food) in there,” said Pauline. “There are no limits.”
As Pauline said in the interview with the Huffington post, “Money is yours but resources belong to society. That’s the message I want to send out. Don’t waste the resources, don’t waste the food.”
Also, don’t forget to share this story with your friends and family – and ask them what they think about this idea?
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