Reducing food waste during the festive season
A survey shows that more Singaporeans are taking steps to make the most of their meals and avoid wastage.
SINGAPORE: If there is one fear people in Singapore have when they play host during the holiday season, it is that there will not be enough food to go around for their guests.
This is borne out by findings of a survey commissioned by the National Environment Agency (NEA), which found that four in 10 respondents – or 41% – said they would cater for more guests than expected when they are hosting.
Another four in 10 said they would prepare just enough food for the expected number of guests.
The remaining two in 10 people said they did not cater for enough people.
The findings of the study were released by the NEA yesterday to encourage Singaporeans to reduce food waste during the festive season.
The survey, which involved 1,000 Singapore residents who were interviewed face to face between March and April this year, sought to better understand consumer perceptions, behaviours and attitudes towards food waste.
A similar survey of 1,000 individuals was conducted in 2015.
A comparison of the survey results in both years showed that people here are more aware of the issue of food wastage and more active in reducing food wastage now than they were four years ago.
For instance, about 64% of those surveyed said they would take away unfinished food when eating out, up from 44% in 2015.
Close to one-third of respondents – or 32% – also said they were open to buying fruits and vegetables with slight imperfections when grocery shopping, compared to less than one-quarter of respondents – or 23% – four years ago.
The percentage of interviewees who were open to buying food close to their expiry dates at a discount also more than doubled, from 18% in 2015 to 38% this year.
About 3% were also composting their food waste at home.
Those surveyed said that saving money (93%) and protecting the environment (92%) were their key motivations in reducing food wastage.
Four in five people wanted more information on how to reduce food waste.
The NEA said yesterday: “Many thought that more information, such as how to store food and ingredients to make them last longer and how to share excess food, could help them reduce food wastage.
“They also said they would waste less food if they had the option to order smaller portions at eating establishments.”
Last year, 763,100 tonnes of food waste were generated – about a 5% drop from the 809,800 tonnes thrown out in 2017.
Non-governmental organisation Food From The Heart, for one, has been redistributing surplus food to the underprivileged in Singapore through almost 200 food distribution points.
Foodscape Collective, a community for sustainable food systems, has been encouraging people to turn food scraps into compost.