Dirty secrets of a food paradise
TRY to imagine 10,000 SBS (Singapore Bus Services) double-decker buses lining the Pan-Island Expressway three times over, and you’ll come close to picturing the volume of food Singapore throws out every year.
That is around 570 million kilos of food, most of which are edible scraps.
For a tiny island that buys more than 95 per cent of its food from overseas, how are we capable of squandering one-fifth* of it?
While Singaporeans are keen to call the city-state a food paradise, mouths immediately clamp up when asked about food wastage.
Supermarkets that display an abundance of food on their shelves refuse to talk about leftover stock. Five-star hotels that boast gourmet cuisines decline to comment on wastage in banquets. Even buffet service staff shrug and claim to know nothing about food wastage.
To get under the blanket of food waste secrecy, we spoke to over 200 people from all walks of life, snooped through food retailers’ garbage in the wee hours, spied on buffet operations, took up part-time waitressing jobs in five-star hotels and analysed food waste collected from 150 families.
Clearly, food waste goes beyond the plate. From the picky shopper who insists on perfect-looking fruits to substandard food prepared by the ignorant worker, there is more to understand how food wastage comes about in our everyday lives.
Food paradise or food waste republic? You decide.
Weight does not equal volume.
It’s an interesting approach but your fundamental error in the calculation of food waste is very jarring.