Tackling Our Food Waste in Singapore

 


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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