foodbank sg

Hey guys!

So today I was in the engineering canteen, Techno Edge, and I happened to come across these food bins (in which I discreetly took a photo of :p)

Which reaaaally caught my attention because I have never seen one before. Or maybe I just wasn't paying attention to the problem of food wastage before this.......

(Side note: I found out they have 6 food "banks" where you can drop off the food. And 1 of it is in NUS! How convenient for us!!)

And hence I learnt about Food Bank .Singapore - an organisation which collects unwanted, unused excess food from people, and then distributing these food to the poor or the needy. Their aim of this organisation is not just to provide a helping hand to the less fortunate in Singapore, but also in raising awareness of the problem of food wastage. In Singapore, food is the 2nd highest type of waste!!! This alarming results has thus led to the set-up of this charity organization.

In the past, they have had events such as Project X-pired, FoodLanthrophy and Food ReXycling Day. They have an upcoming Project X-pired II coming soon in October! Art pieces made from food waste (e.g expired food) will be used to make art pieces :-) Head over to the website to find out more about their events if you're interested yeah!

Food banks have been around since 1967, including the world's first - St Mary's Food Bank Alliance in Arizona! Seems like one of the ways to mitigate the problems of food wastage lies with us - in preventing food from ending up wasted in the bins in the first place. Just got to take note of the expiry dates on our food!

References:
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AGENCY. (n.d) Waste statistics and overall recycling. [Online] Available from: http://www.nea.gov.sg/energy-waste/waste-management/waste-statistics-and-overall-recycling [Accessed: 30/9/2015]

PRISCILLA GOY. (2015) Don't throw away cny goodies, donate them. [Online] 5 March 2015. Available from: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/dont-throw-away-cny-goodies-donate-them [Accessed: 30/9/2015]

US food waste reduction goal

On September 16, 2015,

The government has announced the United States' first ever national food waste reduction goal!!!! *throws confetti* They have called for a 50% reduction of food wastage by 2030, so as to improve food security and conserve the nation's resources. 

It is known that the US enjoys an abundance of food, but this only results in huge amounts of wastage. Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack has mentioned that an average family of 4 leaves more than two million calories of food uneaten each year, which is equivalent to approximately $1500. Reductions in food losses in developed areas can decrease the number of undernourished people in developing regions by up to 63 million. (FAO, summarized by Yosuke Munesue)

In the past, there have been successful campaigns to reduce food wastage, such as the US Food Waste Challenge. For this food reduction goals, there will be many partnerships with various organizations, the private and local sector, the governments and many more. This is a major opporutnity for US to work towards cutting down on food wastage. As EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy wisely says, "Let's feed people, not landfills." I look forward to seeing the progress in US' new initiatives. :)

References:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. (2015) USDA and EPA Join with Private Sector, Charitable Organizations to Set Nation's First Food Waste Reduction Goals [Online] September 2015 Available from: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdamediafb?contentid=2015/09/0257.xml&printable=true&contentidonly=true [Accessed: 20/9/2015]

YOSUKE MUNESUE. (2015) The effects of reducing food losses and food waste on global food insecurity, natural resources, and greenhouse gas emissions [Online] 17 (1). Available from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10018-014-0083-0 [Accessed: 20/9/2015]

ugly but beautiful

I'm back with another post on how supermarkets are dealing with food wastage! This time, we take a closer look at a french supermarket, Intermarché

To cut down on the food wastage from 'ugly' produce, Intermarché has thought of a brilliant method. Giving these ugly produce their own aisles and labels in the supermarket, these produce that were supposed to be thrown away now gets a second chance to be consumed.

On first look, maybe the ugly produce were not that attractive and it would still be difficult for consumers to accept it. However, Intermarché came up with an ingenious plan by repackaging these food (as seen in the video). What a great idea!! This not only helps to increase awareness on food wastage, but it also encourages consumers to buy the 'ugly' produce which are sold at lower prices. Win-win situation!

In addition, before the ugly produce even reaches the supermarket, an organization called Imperfect Produce in the US would buy the rejected, cosmetically-challenged goods from farmers and distributors before selling them to consumers. Here's an interview with Ben Simon, the chief executive officer of Imperfect Produce.

Let's take a closer took at these produce:

"These Pink Lady apples were rejected because they're smaller than the required minimum diameter of 2 inches."

"Vibrant as they are, these carrots were deemed too crooked for grocery stores."

"These heads of cauliflower were rejected because of ever-so-slight splitting between the knobs on the head."

These are just some but not all of the produce that are rejected by supermarket standards. Bet you can't even tell the difference between a rejected one and one that can be sold in the supermarket huh? These produce are still edible and they taste the same despite their lacking in the appearance department.

Activities like these really make me feel like trying 'ugly' produce now... Does that even make sense?! The supermarkets in Singapore should definitely take a leaf out of the French supermarket book. Imagine the amount of food waste that we would be able to cut down! Not to forget, start-ups such as Imperfect Produce. I believe that slowly but surely, we would be able to take baby steps in cutting down our food wastage at the consumer level. :)

References: 
http://www.techinsider.io/ugly-fruits-and-vegetables-reject-your-unreasonable-beauty-standards-2015-8
http://www.onearth.org/earthwire/imperfect-produce-food-waste