“We should always use our influence to make positives changes to this world.”
Miss Earth Singapore is the one who taught me this, and like what I’ve mentioned before — it’s easy to be influenced by her passion to make changes and help the environment. Today, I’m not going to talk about the good food in Singapore. Instead, I will like to bring your attention to something more serious: Food Wastage in Singapore.
I’m not about to write a thesis on food wastage and starvation in the world. I’m definitely not dumb enough to bore you with the statistics, because chances are, you will just switch off and look at my other food reviews. Please give me a minute of your time to read this post, because everyone can play a part to help the environment.
According to the Waste Statistics and Recycling Rate for 2009 that is released by the National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore, there was a total of 529,400 tonnes of waste disposed, and only 13% (76,700) was recycled. I’m not sure if you get the magnitude of things here, but 1 tonne is 1000kg — which makes it 529.4 million kg of food waste. Now, you see what I’m talking about?
Here’s 3 simple steps on how to reduce food wastage in Singapore.
Order less food (or order wisely)
Don’t be alarm that the food blogger is asking you to eat less. I’m just advising you to order wisely. Somehow or rather, we tend to over-order when there are guests around. All of us want the best for our companions, so I understand that it’s only human to do that.
Explain that you can always make a second round of order if the food is not enough. Ask the staff about the portion of the food if you are not sure how big it is. If you know you have a small appetite, order less, or offer to share it with your dining companions. In short, don’t over-order and waste food.
Finish all the food that you order
I get very upset whenever someone cannot finish their food. First, they are not appreciating the chefs’ effort in preparing the food. And most importantly, there are so many people starving all over the world, and here we are, complaining that we are too full, or that the food isn’t nice enough.
Finish, whatever that you have ordered. Do not leave anything on the plate. Lick it clean and make sure that you can see your own reflection in it.
Bring home the leftovers
No one is going to laugh if you tell the waitress to pack the leftovers (when there’s really a lot of food untouched). If they do, tell me their names and I will give them a piece of my mind. It’s not about being ‘stingy’ or ‘thrifty’ – it’s about not wasting food. I know it may seems embarrassing to pack the leftovers, but do think of it as your part to help the environment towards less food wastage.
If the staff tells you that you can’t pack the leftovers home, repeat the following to them: “Hello? We paid for our food, so what’s wrong if we want to pack it home?” Disclaimer: Please don’t try this in a buffet restaurant.
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To round things up, I just want you to know that there are currently 925 million people who do not have enough to eat – that’s more than the populations of USA, Canada and the European Union. Starvation in the world is very real, so please appreciate that we are actually very blessed to have food on our table every day.
The next time you can’t finish your food, think of all the people who are starving out there.
// This post about Food Wastage in Singapore is inspired by dweam.
Finishing our food has nothing to do with starving people in other countries… sure we learn to appreciate our food, but other than that, it doesn’t help them. Food that’s on our plate cannot possibly be shipped over to them- if Singapore wished to do so they would have. Whether we finish our food or not has no factor in contributing to the starvation of those countries, that’s purely the fault of their corrupted government.
I, on the other hand, get very upset when people ask me to finish my food…
love this post! v realistic and informative, thanks:)
I agree that we are blessed to be able to afford the basic necessities of life (and more) whilst others are starving. However, when you say that you get very upset when people don’t finish their food… in the end, it’s still a personal choice. You can inform people, but if you have an overly pompous tone, you’re bound to put people off.
Moreover, not finishing one’s food does not mean that one does not appreciate the chef’s effort.
Just my two cents (:
Yup, I totally agree with you! Once we had a small family gathering at a restaurant. My cousin ordered a full bento set, needless to say she couldn’t finish it. She didn’t even ate half of it and said that she’s full. I was very angry at that time, since it was my mum’s treat. It was a total waste of money and I pretty full at that time so I couldn’t really do anything about it. If you cannot finish the whole thing, then don’t order such a big set meal. At least share with somebody or something. I think it is not right to waste food.
Good info, though the part about finishing all the food can be overbearing.
In US and UK (not sure in other parts of the world), it is very normal to doggy-bag your leftovers if you cannot finish. So, instead of finishing all the food, maybe one can suggest to da-bao and bring it for lunch the next day?
true indeed
Thanks for wonderful post.
As for finishing the food part, I strongly agree that we can suggest to them to finish their food, but we can’t force them to do so. I think it is a practical solution to get patrons to bring back their leftovers, and if it were possible, like what some restaurants are doing currently, restaurants can fine patrons if they do not finish their food.