At the end of the day, there are some questions in life which cannot be answered by reading more journals or review articles.
As the title suggests, today I will be sharing more about SG Food Rescue (SGFR), a programme that brings people together to reduce food waste in Singapore.
Is food wastage a real problem in Singapore? Well… according to the National Environment Agency, Singapore generated 809800 tonnes of food waste in 2017.
Although I had a lot of fun interviewing people, I also believe in the importance of experiencing things firsthand because it helps me to write better. And so on 29 September, I went for my first Food Rescue Mission with SGFR!
The Rescue Teams met at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre (PPWC) at 9.45am where the mission conductors, Ronald and Winnie, briefed us on the dos and don’ts during the mission. For instance, we were not allowed to use words such as “throw away” or “cannot sell” because such phrases might offend the vendors. Instead, we are supposed to ask “Uncle/Auntie, do you have food that you don’t want?”
After the brief, we went to our assigned segments in PPWC with our trolleys to collect unwanted food from the vendors. I have been following SGFR on their Facebook group, since the first time I talked to Daniel Tay to find out more about SGFR. On my Facebook, I would often see SGFR sharing photographs of food being discarded and those photographs often left me in dismay. However, on the day of the event, I was really appalled by the HUGE volume of food being thrown away. And most of the unwanted food was still in good condition.
For example, the broccoli, as shown above, are just some of the food we salvaged during the mission.
Looking at the huge volume of edible food, discarded by the vendors, I was left feeling utterly disappointed. And if you’re wondering if this is a phenomenon that happens on a daily basis. The answer? An unfortunate yes.
Since the start of my journey in the Bachelor of Environmental Studies programme, I have been exposed to a myriad of environmental issues. And as we all know, mitigating an environmental issue isn’t easy because they are many economic and social factors involved in it. But one of the questions I have been asking myself recently is, how can I better convey the ongoing environmental problems to the public?
And in my opinion, these are one of the many questions which the answers cannot be found in journals and/or review articles.
That said, I still look forward to the day when I find the answer I need, through my interaction with people and firsthand experiences.
So why Food Rescue? Because I think it’s important to experience things firsthand, and I want to encourage you to start going out to the real world, to see how the situation is truly like.
References
National Environmental Agency. (n.d.). Food Waste Management.
Hi Wei Qian! As a new reader of your posts, I applaud your efforts in interviewing various people and investing your time in experiencing things first hand. I have heard that food waste is an issue in Singapore, but your photos made me realise that the problem is more severe than what I have heard. As I am new to this country, would you mind telling me what your government is doing to solve the issue and if their efforts produce positive results? I am also curious as to how many food vendors are aware that they are contributing to this problem and if they are aware of this problem in the first place. Besides the food sold not being on par with the customers’ standards, was there any other reason that prompted them to throw away the food? Sorry to bombard you with all these questions. Hope to hear from you soon!
Yours sincerely,
Rachel Pek
Hello Rachel. Thank you for your encouragement!
1. If I may refer you to this factsheet I found online, the local government has been promoting food waste minimisation by targeting both consumers’ perception and attitudes toward food wastage, as well as working with industries to develop good food manufacturing practices. Additionally, initiatives such as the redistribution of unsold and excess food have also been implemented.
2. I don’t have the exact figure in regard to how many vendors are actually aware of their contribution to the problem of food wastage, but many supermarkets such as Sheng Siong are aware of the importance of environmental sustainability and reducing food wastage. However, it is important to note that the volume of food waste generated in Singapore has increased by 40% over the past decade.
3. If you’re asking about my experience with SG Food Rescue specifically, the only reason I heard from the vendors was that the food doesn’t fit the standards required. Certainly, some of the food had moulds on them, so they weren’t safe for consumption in the first place. But by and large, from what I had observed the other day, most of the food was, however, still in good condition.
Also, to share with you, at the end of our mission that day, about 150kg of food was collected by personnel from Zhenghua Community Centre to be distributed to residents living in rental flats at Bukit Panjang. Some of the food was also sent to community fridges located at different parts of Singapore.
In my opinion, redistribution of the discarded but edible food is a good practice as it not only minimises food wastage but also helps the people who are less well-off.
I hope my reply finds you well.
P.S. Have a good week ahead!
Cheers
Wei Qian
Hi Wei Qian!
It was really interesting reading about your experience at Food Rescue! I myself also experienced first-hand the severity of food waste problem. I work at a restaurant and the food wastage problem is huge! All the food ranging from like new ingredients to stored food to unfinished meals are thrown away. I have been thinking about the ways in which this problem can be reduced but it’s difficult because usually for a dinner service, it is very hectic and restaurants are often unwilling to separate the food waste because it requires a lot of effort. Are there any ways that you would propose to get restaurants to be more aware and receptive to the idea of reducing food waste?
Cheers,
Joy
Hello Joy!
I think restaurants might be aware of their contribution to food wastage, but reducing the volume of food waste might not be their priority. That said, I would love to say education would help to alleviate this problem but… I don’t know if education would help in this case. Idealistically speaking, I think a possible method to tackle the issue of food wastage by restaurants, is for them to collaborate with both insect farms and farms that supply them with the ingredients required for their daily operation. For example, restaurants can send their food waste to black soldier flies farms, like Insectta, where food waste is consumed by the black soldier flies. Consequently, black soldier flies can be used as livestock feed while their frass can be used as compost. At the end of the day, farms that use black soldier flies as animal feed and frass as fertilisers can then supply restaurants with fresh ingredients. This creation of a circular economy system, in my opinion, would benefit all parties. However, I don’t know if the results of this initiative would be as positive as I would have imagined.
Anyways, just last month, a ban was imposed in Austin, Texas, where restaurants can no longer throw away their food but must compost the food or send them to a soup kitchen. Maybe a ban might help?
Thank you for asking me the question because it got me really curious about how restaurants think about their operation, and I’d be very keen to find the time and opportunity to interview someone who runs a restaurant.
P.S. Have a good week ahead!
Cheers
Wei Qian
Hi Wei Qian! Thank you for sharing your experience at Food Rescue! It’s inspired me to join as a volunteer 🙂 In the comments, you brought up a great point of encouraging restaurants and markets to move into a more circular economy. Are there any examples of countries that have implemented such practices in the food industry? Some hypermarkets in Singapore have installed an on-site food waste treatment that converts food waste to potable water that is then used in the stores (not exactly sure how the system works, or what happens to the solid waste!) Other supermarkets like FairPrice have promotions for close-to-expiry products and donate food to charity. There’s even this initiative in Singapore called UglyFood that makes popsicles, juices and fruit teas with food thrown away that is still edible. I found that Mustafa centre, a hypermarket my family shops at monthly for Indian groceries, does not have such initiatives and throws away about 100 kg of food waste daily. I’m thinking of contacting them to encourage them to donate/recycle their food waste. As Joy mentioned, I think that they might find that it will increase their costs and efforts, but hopefully we can figure out a comprise!
Thanks,
Lavanya
References:
Ng, G. (2018, September 10). How supermarkets fight food waste in Singapore. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/how-supermarkets-fight-food-waste-in-singapore
Hello Lavanya! Thank you for sharing with me the situation in Singapore. Do also share with me your volunteer experiences with me in the future!
I understand that in Europe, the European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan has been put in place to reduce food wastage in Europe. The EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste was also set up as part of the Action Plan, to better “identify, measure, understand and find solutions to deal with food waste”.
The journey towards attaining a circular economy wouldn’t be easy, but I am sure as long as we start somewhere and start right now, it’s only a matter of time before we achieve the goal!
That said, I look forward to hearing from you about Mustafa’s response!
P.S. Have a great week ahead, and all the best for your finals!
Cheers
Wei Qian
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