Zenden Tan attended an online workshop by UglyFood and People’s Association to find out more about how they tackle the issue of food waste.
(A man choosing fruits in the supermarket)
Food waste is a pertinent issue, affecting Singapore’s food security. UglyFood and People’s Association held an event to spread awareness over it on June 19. [Lead Word Count: 25]
Based on a website by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, "In 2019, Singapore generated around 744 million kg of food waste. That is equivalent to 2 bowls of rice per person per day." When faced with this terrifying reality, most Singaporeans agree to the need for change. One respondent, Sonya Saravanan, 16, expressed her enthusiasm towards reducing food wastage, “Yes I really want to play a part to help the food wastage problem in Singapore.”
During the event held on June 19, UglyFood brought us through its flagship store, showing participants the many simple ways they reduce food wastage. For example, “ugly foods” were chopped to retain the edible portions and used in acai bowls and sold as fruit. They even have a huge fruit juice machine that squeezes these “ugly foods” into fresh juice which can be sold to students and staff at SUTD.
However, a student, Wu Mini, 18, brought up that “consumers' perception [is] influenced by [the media]. The [media] usually presents only the better-looking fruits and vegetables which caused consumers to believe that fruits and vegetables are supposed to look perfect, without any blemishes.” Thus shifting to more sustainable ways of purchasing and consuming food will be a challenge.
In response to this, Mr Mark Benedict Lee, the head of operations at UglyFood, states that, “I think media portrayal, usually influence perceptions, perpetuates stereotypes. I think that is something we have to be conscious of. This is why we have been trying to ramp up our efforts in the education space, to try to encourage more educational consumption of our material.”
One way Lee mentions UglyFood could use to tackle negative stereotypes are through youths. “We are trying to simplify this whole complex concept of sustainability.” Employing colourful and cute characters to appeal to the younger audience and make the concept more digestible. UglyFood has also ramped up its efforts on Instagram, increasing its followers tenfold from 1000 to over 10 000 in just 6 months.
Furthermore, based on a resource from the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, the percentage of youth volunteerism has been steadily on the rise, reaching as high as 40% for youths aged 15-24 in the most recent update in 2018.
UglyFood has been actively tapping into this resource in a mutually beneficial working relationship with the volunteers. This is what Lee had to say regarding the volunteers. “Youths coming over to help us can also learn about this issue on food waste. Some of them also bring this information back to their projects or their families. So I think that helps our cause, so we are always very open for youths to join.”
Other than UglyFood, other organisations such as The Food Bank Singapore also provides volunteering opportunities for youths to combat food wastage and promote food sustainability.
Lee brings up that “if we can start to change the perception from young, these views will go through adulting and eventually, when they have their own families, hopefully, these sustainability values will be passed down to their offspring.”
He also speaks on how parents and grandparents already have certain mindsets on how they purchase groceries which is a habit that has been formed over decades. Whereas for youths, this is not the case and thus UglyFood hopes to influence these youths to pick up food sustainability habits.
This is why youths play a crucial role in the journey to food sustainability.
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