In Singapore, food waste concerns are on the rise. Last
year, we threw out 744 million kg of food – the weight of about 51,000
double-decker buses!
The sheer amount of food wastage is troubling in two ways.
One, because it adds to the limited space in Singapore’s only landfill. Two, because
Singapore must import most of its food due to our limited land resources to
grow our own, we’re wasting a significant number of resources and energy that
goes into growing, processing, and transporting food for our consumption. This
in turn also increases our carbon footprint, as we’ll have to find ways to
dispose of the wastage in an environmentally safe manner.
What can we do as consumers? For starters, food waste at the
consumer level tends to be because we buy too much for our own consumption, and
then throw it out once it hits the best-by dates. Another way is when we order
too much food when we are eating out at buffets or hawker centres and find
ourselves unable to finish our food. In both scenarios, we’re not only wasting
food, but we’re also tossing out our hard-earned cash by needlessly
overspending on food.
To save our wallets and our precious food resources, it’s
important to know how much each family member is eating. Knowing how much your
household consumes can help you to efficiently plan meals and how you will be
using your ingredients for every day, especially if you’re the designated chef
of the house. While it may sound time-consuming to plan out meals in advance,
it can help you to save on ingredient costs and the amount of grocery shopping
that you need to do every week, especially if you live far from a supermarket.
Plus, meal planning helps you to control the portion sizes that your household is
eating at every meal, so that no one is eating too little or too much whenever
possible.
Furthermore, knowing the expiration dates of what’s in your
kitchen can help you save costs on your next grocery trip. Keeping a handy
chart on your fridge and including the best-buy dates for your ingredients can
remind you of what you need to stock up on or what to use for the next meal. It
can also help you be creative with your cooking skills, especially if you have
off-cuts or vegetable stems that can be used to make soup for the next meal.
Lastly, box up any leftovers by portion and freeze them so
you can utilise them for the next meal if possible. However, take care not to
keep leftovers for too long, in case they go bad in the fridge.
For those who eat out often and love visiting different
places at each time, it’s best to resist the urge to over-order and expect
everyone to finish the food. While it may seem tempting to try out many
delicious dishes, over-ordering can lead to people overeating. Plus, while it’s
a good habit to finish one’s food, not everyone may have the appetite that day
to do so. If there’s a lot of food left, try enquiring with the restaurant if
they allow you to take away the leftovers, or bring your own containers if
possible.
If you have no time to cook but aren’t keen to waste food or
money by constantly eating out, you can also opt for food delivery services
like Tingkat Singapore. Ordering Tingkat services are like
getting the zi char or cai fan store downstairs to deliver to
your home every day, giving the feeling of a homecooked meal. Moreover, because
Tingkat catering portion out their serving sizes according to the number
of people that you list in your order, there’s less tendency for your family
members to overeat too at every meal. You can check out each Tingkat
caterer’s monthly Tingkat menu to see which one you prefer, and even
enjoy Tingkat delivery services options like Lexin Catering’s low salt,
low cholesterol, and no added MSG meals, you can enjoy the wonders of a healthy
homecooked meal all within the comfort of your own home.
While we may think that we only throw out a little bit of
food at a time each time we eat, it can add up quickly over time. Although
we’re obsessed with enjoying our food in Singapore, it’s important to remember
that we shouldn’t get too carried away and end up biting off more than we can
chew for every meal!
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