Fun Fact of the day: An estimated 1.3 billion tons (or 1300 billion kilograms) of food go to waste around the world each year. This amount of food that goes to waste is enough to feed three billion people. According to a 2005 global survey by the United Nations, there are about 100 million homeless people worldwide.
Do the Math, and you will realise that the food we’re wasting is well capable of feeding the millions of homeless people around the world.
World Hunger is a real issue that we’re all aware of, yet the staggering numbers are enough to kill your appetite. Food wastage is now another fight we need to fight together. Isn’t it ironic?
Well, consider seeing this article as a sign that it’s time for you to act on this problem as well, because DBS Bank and Mediacorp, leading brands in their respective industries in Singapore, have joined forces to lead us in this fight. They want to bring this critical issue to our attention in this special collaboration, along with CNA Insider.
They have come up with a special three-part digital-exclusive production available on CNA Inside Youtube or on their website – ‘Food, Wasted’. They have released this series with the hopes of spreading awareness about the issue of food wastage to the masses of Singapore, to provide us with tips and tricks we can adopt to bring this crisis to an end.
Food Wastage is an issue that gives rise to other major problems such as pollution and climate change, that ultimately lead to the dreadful ‘Global Warming’ issue that’s been haunting us for years. Hence, the tips that this series shares with us encourage the reduction of food waste that will shrink our carbon footprints and avert the aforementioned crises.
Each video will share stories and anecdotes from social enterprises supported by DBS Foundation and other community partners. From harvesting and transporting to inventory management and sales in supermarkets and restaurants, these enterprises share how they’ve identified holes in their supply chains due to food wastage, and worked to bring the nation a step closer to a food-secure future.
Some of the leading enterprises involved in this change are as follows:
- DBS Foundation Grant recipients, TreeDots: the first online platform in Asia that connects suppliers of surplus and imperfect food with businesses and households.
- S4S Technologies: creators of innovative technologies designed to preserve and process high-quality foods to restore the agriculture supply chain.
- Rooftop Republic: a social enterprise championing urban farming communities.
They will appear in the three-part series, along with other companies, to share their stories and inspire you; if such enterprises can make changes like these to save our future, we can surely contribute small steps from home and make it happen as well.
“The volume of food waste generated in Singapore has increased at a staggering rate over the past decade. Food waste accounts for 8% of greenhouse gases produced and undoubtedly, exacerbates the rate of climate change globally. As a purpose-driven bank, we believe that by working with like-minded partners, social enterprises and the community at large, we can inculcate a greater sense of social consciousness and spark positive change,” said DBS Group Head of Strategic Marketing & Communications Karen Ngu.
“It is critical to have all hands on deck as only through the strength of the collective, can we make a lasting difference. We hope that the ‘Food, Wasted’ CNA Insider special series helps to fuel greater awareness and understanding of the sustainability issues caused by food that is wasted and/or lost across the entire food supply chain.”
DBS and Mediacorp are working together to make our dreams a reality. They are driven by their corporate responsibility towards sustainability to create such informative content in the form of the ‘Food, Wasted’ series. They want to inspire and influence us to make the right, and the best moves. If we really want to win this fight against food wastage, we will have to act on it. It will take the effort of all nearly 6 million of us to see results from this fight.
Mediacorp has actively shown its support for Singapore’s Green Plan 2030 and the national interest in climate action, which has further driven them to take action and lead our nation towards the future we don’t just want, but need.
Likewise, DBS Bank, through the DBS Foundation, has grown, nurtured, and mothered enterprises until they grow their own wings to soar high to fly around Singapore’s social and environmental challenges.
Check out the series for yourself and learn more about our enterprises’ efforts for the future we all dream of. Episodes 1, 2 and 3 are now out and are just 15 to 17 minutes each. Remember to share these videos with your friends and family members to give them this much-needed wake-up call, to show them the urgency of this situation, and urge them to take action with you.
We deserve a food-secure future, and it was in our fate; till we started this horrible habit of food wastage. Now, we have caused the need to fight for zero food wastage. Food wastage also further feeds an already existing problem, which is Climate Change. We have done this, and now we must undo it.
It’s a fight. Bring on your A-Game; we’re going to need it.
Visuals courtesy of Mediacorp.
