Insight

Thankfully, more people are recognising food wastage as a serious problem. Much effort is put into minimising food wastage nowadays.

The source of food wastage stems from many components in the food supply chain and not just one alone. Thus a combination of policies should be in place so as to counter the problem most effectively. Here is a little summary of the stakeholders and food supply chain involved in the problem of food wastage in Singapore.


Image taken from: the Food Bank Singapore Ltd.


Apart from the National Environment Agency, some non-goverenment organisations that are working to address the issue of food waste include the Food Bank Singapore Ltd, Singapore Environment Council and Food from the Heart. Business organisations like Singapore Hotel Association are also making constant efforts to solve the problem.

From a global outlook, the issue of food waste is also gaining prevalance. So much so that France's parliament has recently passed a law obliging supermarkets to give unsold food to charities or put it to other uses, such as animal feed, rather than disposing it.( National Catholic Reporter, 2015).
The law also binds large supermarkets to sign formal contracts with charities by July 2016, or face an $82,700 fine or two years in jail. As part of wider official efforts to halve the country's food waste by 2025, the law also includes educational programs on food waste for schools and businesses. 

In Singapore, there are no legally binding laws. However many supermarket giants like FairPrice Pte Ltd has their own programmes and campaigns to help combat the problem of food waste.



References:

National Catholic Reporter. 51.17 (June 5, 2015): p4.