It Starts With a Meal™
TAKE ACTION TODAY TO END HUNGER TOMORROW. It starts with a meal. It leads to resilience, self-sufficiency, education, empowerment and bright futures in communities worldwide.
EDUCATION STARTS WITH A MEAL
We launched our It Starts With a Meal™ movement to share that the journey toward self-reliance and bright futures begins with a single nutritious meal. Our work often starts with a meal by distributing nutritious meals through school feeding programs, responding to emergencies and working to implement holistic solutions to hunger and food insecurity through sustainable farming initiatives.
RECOVERY STARTS WITH A MEAL
In 2022, Typhoon Paeng hit the Philippines, damaging Sharmaine’s home and exacerbating her family’s food supply challenges. To address this, Sharmaine receives Rise Against Hunger meals, distributed by partner International Care Ministries. The meals ensure her family has a nutritious food source especially in the aftermath of the typhoon. Sharmaine’s family, including others in the community, have gained weight and are more energetic. When an emergency disrupts food access, nutritious meals are essential for families like Sharmaine’s. She said, “It helped my family save money and extend our food supply and consumption.”
OPPORTUNITY STARTS WITH A MEAL
Ivy Gener, age 32, lives in a rural community in Iloilo, Philippines with her son, Ricky. Most homes in Iloilo are made of light materials like nipa, bamboo, and found objects like iron and other scrap metals. Many families in the Philippines earn an income through farming, carpentry, driving pedicabs and working as hired labor. Water is sourced from manual and hand pumps. Ivy and her son Ricky are enrolled in the local Transform program facilitated by partner International Care Ministries. Pastor, Mila Digna serves as the Community Leader. She shared that the Rise Against Hunger meals have been a “great help” to the program’s participants. Jinky Jemera, who serves as the Health Coordinator for the program said the mothers who enrolled in the program learned valuable parenting skills, especially in the area of early childhood nutrition.
Real-Life Impact in the Philippines
Nutritious Food Supports Sharmaine’s Family in the Wake of a Typhoon
A Grandmother’s Mission to Help Her Family and Community in the Philippines
Creating Transformation through Nutrition for Ivy and Her Son
Nourishing Lives One Meal at a Time
Get to know more about our programs and what they mean to the communities we serve. From parent volunteers at Better World Tondo to feeding program beneficiaries over in Magdalena, Laguna, we aim to make as much impact as we can through our various nutrition programs. And it all starts with a meal!
MEALPOWER
When we start conversations about the power and importance of a meal, it also reinforces the critical necessity of addressing food insecurity. Using #ItStartsWithaMeal on social media, share your favorite international recipe, the difference a single meal can make and how your friends and family can support the global hunger crisis.
TRY ALL THE #MEALPOWER RECIPES!
As a participant in our annual World Food Day Chef Showdown, a culinary battle royale between talented chefs, Michelle Adrillana, a chef, food and beverage consultant, content creator and Filipino cuisine advocate from the Philippines, prepared a Puto Bumbong Spread, a delicious – and purple – Filipino dish. Download the recipe cards to try your hand at making these globally-inspired dishes!
