Securing Food Suppliers and Maintaining Activities by Food Bank Groups in Hokkaido

Abstract

In recent years, activities of food bank groups that collect foods that should be disposed from companies and redistribute foods to the needy people who need food support are becoming active. However, many of the groups which are located in the countryside are in a situation where activities can be maintained by transferring food from Second Harvest Japan （2HJ） located in Tokyo. Therefore, this research shows how food bank groups that had not received the transfer from 2HJ secured food suppliers and maintained activities. In the case, food bank groups located in Hokkaido which is far from Tokyo are used. As a result, groups that had connection with other neighboring groups before the start of activities received food offerings and introduced suppliers from the beginning of the activities. On the other hand, even in cases where they did not have a connection with other groups, they also secured food procurement sources and maintained activities through innovation of procurement methods and dissemination of activities.