[2009.1.8]
Kumamoto University has joined TABLE FOR TWO, as the first national university to participate
On January 5th, Kumamoto University and Kumamoto University Coop began their participation in “TABLE FOR TWO (TFT)”, a program started in Japan to tackle both hunger in developing countries and obesity and lifestyle diseases in developed countries at the same time. This program was launched by the central government, involving the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and major companies including Itochu Corporation, Japan Airlines Corporation and the Mainichi Newspaper Co., Ltd. Kumamoto University was the first of 86 national universities and of all Kyushu universities to participate.
The TFT program is not the usual sort of unilateral assistance to developing countries. This is a program advocated by young Japanese delegates at the World Economic Forum (Davos Forum), attended by leaders of over 1,000 major companies, political leaders (presidents, premiers, etc.), and selected intellectuals and journalists from all over the world. In developed countries, we have problems such as obesity and huge amount of wasted food. In this program, a participating school or company cafeteria prepares daily low calorie meals that are nutritionally balanced and provide sufficient vegetables. At the same time, the participants make donations of 20 yen per meal to provide school lunches for children in developing countries, where there are serious problems that include hunger and malnutrition. Twenty yen is the cost of one serving of a school lunch provided to children in developing countries. TABLE FOR TWO, whose keyword is Food, was named imaging two persons (one in a developed country and the other in a developing country) sharing a common table beyond time and space.
Participation in this program is simple. Just choose a TFT meal from the menu (they are marked) at the cafeteria in Kurokami North Campus. The 20 yen is already included in the price. Each meal is counted as a 20-yen donation and the collected funds are sent to the TFT office every month. The money is then used to provide school lunches in developing countries, courtesy of TFT via the World Food Programme (a United Nations agency) and Millennium Promise (an American NPO). TFT also engages in social and educational efforts to bring children who have not been receiving education for various reasons back to school.
Kumamoto University hopes that participation in this program will be a chance for students and faculty to reflect on their diet, and lead to an interest in making international contributions.
“TABLE FOR TWO” Website
“Kumamoto University Coop” Website
Director of Promotion: Mitsuaki Mori (Director of Human Resources and Labor)
Contact: Kikuchi, International Student Office, Tel: 096-342-2131
