Up until her early 20s, Ms Christine Yeo had no qualms about wasting food. If a bite of sushi was not to her liking, she would discard the entire serving on her buffet plate. Unused groceries were also left to rot in the refrigerator.
Now, the 37-year-old accountant feels so strongly about food waste that she joined various community food-saving initiatives.
The latest is Olio, an international food-saving and sharing app that started gaining traction in Singapore a few months ago.
It allows users to post pictures of unwanted, but safe and edible food. Users are alerted of food postings nearby, and can arrange a pick-up.
Cooked and uncooked food are posted on the app every day. It is free of charge and users do not pay for posting or collecting food.
Olio was founded in Britain in 2015. Within four years, the app has expanded to 49 nations. There are currently 1.2 million users worldwide, said Ms Tessa Clarke, the app’s co-founder.
Mr Daniel Tay is the co-founder of SG Food Rescue, a community initiative that rescues unpalatable-looking but edible vegetables and fruits from Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre and Little India, and redistributes them to soup kitchens, charities and homes.
Ms Clarke said 80% of all listings get picked up, and half of the listings are accepted within an hour of posting.
She added that the biggest challenge with the app is to encourage more users to add their food, and convince them that someone might want what they don’t want.
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Source: The Straits Times, 10 August 2019