I. Startling fact
a. According to the National environment Agency, the amount of food waste we produced in 2014 is a remarkable 788,600 metric tonnes (Nea.gov.sg, 2015).
b. Just how much is that waste? (show size comparison of human to blue whale) That’s the relative size. We’re producing waste equivalent to the mass of 4357 blue whales. It’s phenomenal. As of June last year, our population stands at about 5.47 million (Monthly Digest of Statistics Singapore, February 2015, 2015). That’s about 144kg per person per year
c. Out of all that food we wasted, only 13% is recycled into compost and others (Nea.gov.sg, 2015). The remaining wastes will either be sent to Semakau landfill or the incineration plants.
d. The real truth is that we might only we scratching the surface. These are the numbers that could be detected and monitored. How about those that slipped past the radar?
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In the next few minutes, I hope to convince why we should all be concerned. What has been done and what can be done and what’s in it for us. By the end of this talk, I would like empower you and show all of you that we can all play a part and make that difference.
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I. Impacts of food wastage
a. Food waste can be defined as “Organic residue generated by the processing, handling, storage, sale, preparation, cooking, and serving of foods” (Best Practices & Emerging Solutions Toolkit, 2014). Food wastage has a huge impact that goes beyond Singapore. It effects reach out to the global scale.
i. According to the 2014 report by the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, food wastage impacts the economy as well as the environment).
1. USD 1 trillion economic impact from food wasted and lost during production (Food Wastage Footprint Full-Cost Accounting: Final Report,