Management of Food Wastage through Schools and Neighbourhood Communities

39 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) whether the Ministry will be working with schools to raise awareness about food wastage and ways to manage the issue; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider setting up a network of food banks within communities so that households with excess food items can donate them via these neighbourhood food banks.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: My Ministry works closely with schools to raise awareness on the importance of reducing food wastage. The National Environment Agency (NEA) supports schools by providing educational resources, such as posters, videos and presentation materials, on food waste reduction.

Later this year, the National Environment Agency (NEA) will implement a two-year food waste reduction and recycling project for schools. Under this project which will involve 10 schools, emphasis will first be placed on reducing the amount of food waste produced and then on recycling the remaining food waste using onsite food waste recycling machines. There will be assembly talks on managing food waste in participating schools and training will also be provided on the proper segregation of food waste for recycling to the schools' staff, students and canteen stallholders. In addition, they will host learning journeys for neighbouring schools and their community partners to share about their food waste reduction and recycling efforts. Apart from raising awareness about food wastage, the project will demonstrate the benefits of proper food waste management to other schools and encourage them to set up similar systems.

Currently, food redistribution organisations, such as The Food Bank Singapore, Food from the Heart and Fei Yue Community Services, accept donations of excess food items from households. For example, The Food Bank Singapore currently has 15 collection points for households to drop off their food items. As these organisations are located within the communities, they are able to channel food efficiently to those in need. My Ministry will continue to support these organisations' efforts on food redistribution and encourage companies and households to donate their excess food to them.

While food redistribution is one step towards reducing food waste, we should move upstream to avoid generating food waste in the first place. NEA has developed a food wastage reduction guide for households with a wide range of useful tips on how to reduce food wastage, such as planning food purchases to avoid having to throw out expired food items that are not consumed.

To raise awareness and minimise food wastage in the community, my Ministry works with the Community Development Councils (CDCs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). For example, NEA has partnered the South East District on the "Eco-Kepalas @ South East Organisations" programme and North East District on the "I Love My Food" initiative to encourage households to reduce food wastage.