“Feel what it is like to truly starve, and I guarantee that you will forever think twice before wasting food.”
Criss Jami.
In Singapore, it is more common to hear “what to eat for lunch ah?” as compared to “do we have enough food for lunch”.
Have you ever wondered why?
In many parts of the developed world like Singapore, when it comes to food, our main worries revolve around what cuisines or types of food to eat, cook or order in for our meals, but rarely do we have to worry about whether there would be any food on the table for the next meal.
Like many developed countries, Singapore faces a persistent problem of food wastage. Although Singapore imports around 90% of our food from different parts of the world, shockingly, in 2019, our food waste made up around a whopping 10% of the total food waste generated in Singapore (NEA, 2020). If this is unimaginable for you, this 10% of the total waste generated is comparable to around 51,000 double-decker buses of food wasted per day!
This global problem of food wastage is not only hampering the progress of resolving hunger issues in developing countries, this can also result in air pollution as well. To understand some of the severity and impacts on a global scale, here are a few great videos that summarised some of these pressing issues:
Summary
- One-third of the global food supply goes to waste globally.
- Food waste contributes to around 8% of the total annual emissions globally, as processes like shipping, processing, producing involved the release of greenhouse gases and air pollutants into the atmosphere. Furthermore, methane would also be released into the atmosphere when the food waste reaches the landfills, where these gases could contribute to climate change in the long run.
- Food wastage before the point of sale: food produces were often thrown away if they appear as ‘ugly’. Furthermore, when any food crop is overproduced, they would not be harvested at all to charge higher prices for the food (the logic of supply and demand). These food produce were often left untouched to rot. Not only would they release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but it is also a waste of all the resources and fuels used to grow them, which could be utilised better in other areas.
- Food wastage after the point of sale: supermarkets and grocery stores often overbuy the food items to appeal to the psychological illusion of abundance. Moreover, with higher purchasing power and better technology to keep food fresh for a longer time, many would end up buying food in excess, that might end up as food waste when they turn bad.
My Thoughts
I think that this is a persistent first world problem that many developed countries struggle to grapple with, but often to no avail. In fact, most of us were brought up with the idea of how common food produce like fruits and vegetables should look like since our kindergarten days, which made ‘ugly’ looking food be seen as ‘abnormal’ or less nutritious. This societal norm cultivated from a young age has definitely impacted and amplified the food wastage problem in the world today.
Personally, I have always considered this global food wastage problem as a preventable one. I believe that we do have enough food resources to feed everyone on this planet, judging from the immense amount of perfectly edible food thrown away by people in developed countries, while others from the developing countries are suffering from hunger problems. Furthermore, this food wastage problem has led to an (un)intended consequence of air and environmental pollution through the gases released during the decomposition processes at landfills.
If there is a way to redistribute food produces to every part of the world, it would indeed be a win-win situation for everyone – the developing world would experience fewer premature deaths due to malnutrition, and the developed world would be able to prolong the lifespan of landfills, reducing air pollution as well.
We should all play a part in reducing food wastage in any small ways possible so that we can alleviate hunger problems in the developing world and reduce global air pollution problems caused by food wastage. I know this might be easier said than done, but baby steps do matter!
Here’s me ending off with a few related TED talks, hope that these videos inspire you as much as they have inspired me~
Disappearing into thin air,
Yuin Chi
References:
NEA, 2020. ‘Food Waste Management’. Retrieved from: https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/waste-management/3r-programmes-and-resources/food-waste-management. (Last Accessed: 2 October 2020).
Air Pollution 