Singaporeans love food, but are they valuing food enough?

Singaporeans are well-known foodies, but around 800,000 tonnes of food is wasted every year. Why is so much food wasted, and what can consumers do about it?

It is no secret that Singaporeans love food and are willing to queue up for hours to get their favourite dishes. 

It is also no secret that Singapore imports 90 per cent of its food and food security is among the top national priorities.

But a lesser-known fact is that Singapore throws away more than one-third of what we import. This figure amounts to around 800,000 tonnes of food wasted every year, or 140kg of food wasted per person annually. 

The amount of food waste generated in Singapore has increased by over 40 per cent over the last 10 years, revealing a troubling trend. 

In addition, with Covid-19 disrupting food supply chains across the globe, food security and waste have become even more pressing issues to address. 

When food is wasted, so are all the resources used to grow and deliver the food to our tables, as well as to dispose of it. 

The more food that is wasted, the more pressure it puts on precious resources as Singapore will need to build waste disposal facilities and landfills for incineration ash; food waste is Singapore’s fifth-biggest waste stream by weight.

In this video, Eco-Business asks experts about the scale of the food waste crisis in Singapore and what consumers can do to reduce their food waste.

To find out more, join the virtual event The truth about Singapore’s foodprint on 27 April.

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