Issue: Food Wastage
Vertical: Food and Agriculture
Information provided by: Lim Juey Ngya
Problem:
As Singapore continues to build a sustainable and resilient future, not only does she need to leverage technology for the agricultural sector to evolve,
there is also a pressing need to cut down on local food wastage for this resource-scarce island to achieve overall food security and create sustainable cities and communities.
There has been insufficient awareness of the issue and this landscape aims to help shed more light onto this pressing issue by presenting the current players and limitations.
Players making an impact:
Food Waste Minimization Guidebooks (2016)
for retailers, supermarkets and manufacturers, to advise businesses to integrate food waste minimization plans into their operations
Exploration of the Good Samaritan Laws
exploring these laws may encourage food donation to non-profit organizations by minimizing liability
On-site Food Waste Segregation & Treatment
several owners/operators of premises, including hotels, shopping malls and schools, are segregating their food waste and using on-site food waste treatment systems to convert them into compost for landscaping purposes or water for uses apart from consumption
Waste-To-Energy Incineration (WTE) Plants
food waste that is not recycled or treated will be gathered at the WTE plants for the recovery of energy
Resource Sustainability Bill (2019)
to implement a framework where persons who profit from the supply of products bear the cost of collecting and treating these products when they become waste;
Fridge Restock
vegetables are contributed by surrounding community gardens and donations. community fridges are restocked with collected unsellable vegetables on an adhoc basis
Veggie Rescue Program
approach vegetable and fruit suppliers and ask them to give their unsellable produce, collect & deliver the food to the people who can best utilize them e.g. soup kitchens and charitable organizations that serve the needy
Community Food Pack
after a strict quality check is done to ensure the food is safe for consumption, items are sorted based on their categories for easy packing into appropriate quantities that are distributed to the needy
Market Place Program
collaboration with NTUC Fair Price Co-operative Ltd to collect packaging-damaged and near-expiry groceries from their supermarkets and welfare homes can visit the warehouse to purchase as much food (qualified as safe for consumption beforehand) as they want back for free
October Feeding Month
3-part campaign including a month’s food drive targeting to collect 50,000kg of non-perishable food donations to be distributed to low-income families
One-Dish@A-Time Campaign
partners with restaurant “Plentyfull” encouraging people to embrace dishes made from ingredients that have been discarded merely because they are “ugly”
GUI's Farmers Market - Compost Workshop
practitioners share their experiences in making compost with food scraps at home
Insight the Smart Dustbin
smart waste tracker in the form of a lid that can fit on top of any existing trash bins in most commercial kitchens
11th Hour App
allows F&B establishments to offer last-minute deals to customers
Treatsure App
shares and reallocates excess food resources to people who would treasure them
Challenges Yet to Be Addressed
Date labels do not always accurately reflect the quality and safety of food products
No stipulated rules or regulations in place, with employees free to determine what types of produce should be disposed of and kept
Effectiveness of campaigns is hard to measure & actions are voluntary on consumer end
Further Solutions
A standardized guide with regards to food date labelling should be established to minimize confusion with the currently interchangeable nature of labels used, such as following the date labelling standardized in the United States
Plate waste trackers can be installed at food establishments for patrons to observe how much food potentially wasted when returning trays after meals
Preview of the deck!
What is an environmentally sustainable society without securing our food security by tackling what's in our control?
Be our cheerleader and help create a sustainable society with us! If you have been enjoying our content, do share this post and your insights with someone from the impact space! We would love to have you in our sustainability community! Let's unlock sustainability opportunities together.
Your actions will help us build a network where impact players can support one another with knowledge and together we can change the landscape together.
The landscape study is done using information available in the public domain, and represents our best effort at trying to understand the landscape, for the purposes of education and for public literacy.
Should there be any inaccuracies in the information presented in this landscape, feel free to email us at hello@interseed.co and we will be happy to address them.
Want to be a part of a sustainability community for founders and talents? Check out our platform for founders and talents!
Comments