consumer-food wastage

Food wastage does not just cause negative financial impacts, it leads to environmental factors as well. Wasteful use of chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers and used, and more fuel is needed for transportation. Methane is also released which contributes to global warming,

Roughly 1/3 of food produced in the world for human consumption gets lost or wasted every year (1.3 billion tonnes). Consumers in rich countries waste as much food as the entire net food production of sub-saharan Africa.

Most of the world’s undernourished live in low-income and middle-income countries. (around 850 million people = 15% of the population ). More than 100 million children under age 5 are underweight and at least 2.5 million children die from malnutrition every year.

FOOD WASTAGE IN SINGAPORE

Disposed of 0.68million tones of food 2011

10% recycled

on average 130kg of food wastage per person per year

Recycling rate dropped from 16% to 10% in 2010 to 2011

A study was conducted on household waste in Singapore. A days worth of food waste was collected from 150 families staying in HDB flats, condos and landed property. Results show that fruit peels, vegetable parts, eggshells, bones and leftovers formed the bulk of the waste. The average food waste per person was 126g.

Our food cycle: production, distribution, retail, consumption and wastage.

Wastage due to: improper storage/ handling, food spoilage, improper storage or handling, edible food thrown away because doesn’t look nice, looks ‘expired’, leftovers during cooking or after meals

Food wastage generated from our farms, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, wet markers, supermarkets, hawker centres, restaurants, food courts, caterers and homes.

Supermarkets/wholesale/wet markets/farms go through a process called cosmetic filtering. Food that looks ugly or damaged or less than perfect according to marketing or personal standards are discarded even though it is edible. Only good quality items are displayed and sold.

In food stalls/restaurants/cafes, food is wasted when staffs and chefs are not properly trained which leads to badly cooked food or cooking more than needed. Improper storage and ordering more than needed quantities of food also leads to food being thrown away when spoilt or expired.

Asians also have the tendency to provide more than sufficient food for guests at events, which often go unfinished and thrown away. Buffet customers, wanting to get their moneys worth, take more than they can finish.