top of page
  • Writer's pictureJarratt Ong

Being Fruitful with Food Wastage

Updated: Oct 22, 2021



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.


Don't forget to follow us on Instagram, and Linkedin for updates!

 

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!


bottom of page