Fighting food waste requires reducing waste in the first place

A legal framework that tackles all stages of the supply chain is needed, from producers and businesses to individuals.

- Ben Chester Cheong

The next time you throw away food from the fridge because it has passed its expiry date, or it has sat there getting mouldy because you felt like eating something else, think again about your eating habits.

In your own way, with that spoilt meat or foul-smelling fish-head curry, you are contributing to a mountain of food waste that is only growing bigger even amid efforts to tackle the problem at all parts of the supply chain, including commercial and industrial sources as well as households.

Food waste is a problem because not only are there humanitarian concerns - people still starve in this day and age but it also translates to higher costs for goods, and is an environmental issue due to the wasted effort to grow, harvest and transport it.

A step in the right direction was the passing in August of the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (GSFDA), which protects eateries, other businesses and charities that donate excess food from lawsuits, as long as they comply with food safety and hygiene laws.

The law aims to protect food donors against liability in the event of food poisoning, while at the same time reducing food waste by helping feed the low-income and less well-off seniors.

It adds to another measure to help reuse resources again and again the 2019 Resource Sustainability Act (RSA) which requires large firms to reuse and recycle food waste, electronic waste and packaging waste.

However, these Acts deal with food waste after it has been generated. They do not address the fundamental issue of preventing food waste from occurring in the first place.

The reality is that businesses and individuals will continue to generate excessive food waste, relying on donation efforts or waste treatment as a solution rather than focusing on reducing the wastage itself.