Kraft takes food to the hungry

December 3, 2008

Through a contribution of $4.5 million to Feeding America, and the donation of millions of pounds of food, Kraft Foods aims to provide 50 million meals to hungry people over the next three years.

The cash donation will allow Feeding America, a national network of food banks, to purchase up to 25 "mobile pantries," large trucks that can take food directly to people outside the service range of food banks and soup kitchens.

By making three trips a week, each truck is capable of delivering the equivalent of about 1.1 million meals a year to hungry people.

The mobile-pantry effort is part of a larger three-year commitment by Kraft to invest $180 million in fighting hunger and promoting health eating habits around the world.

The funding comes at a time when more than 35 million Americans are experiencing a lack of enough healthy food, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

And that number may rise as the struggling economy makes it harder for American families to make ends meet.

About half the respondents in a recent survey commissioned by Kraft say economic conditions have made it more difficult to provide enough healthy meals for their families.

And more than half the respondents making $25,000 or less a year say they are more likely to visit a food pantry.

Over the past quarter-century, Kraft has donated a total of $770 million in food and funds to Feeding America and other hunger-relief organizations, the company says.

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