Where is Food Wastage Coming From?

The above two figures illustrate the key factors that contribute to food wastage, and the differences in proportion that each factor contributes to the total amount of food wasted by regions. Noticeably, the proportion of the amount of food wasted (in terms of calories) by consumers is significantly higher in developed regions than that in developing regions. As Singapore is a developed country with general characteristics similar to those in North America and Oceania, we can assume that Singapore will share a similar pattern of distribution of food waste.

Although most processes mentioned may not be directly faced by Singapore due to its small size and lack of several natural resources (i.e. land for mass agricultural plantation or seas for mass fishing), all the point mentioned will affect Singapore in one way or another due to the globalised nature of our world today. Singapore heavily relies on imports, especially for food products. Thus, the effects of poor food practices in other parts of the world will inevitably be passed down and felt in Singapore.

In this section, we will examine how the various processes – namely, 1) production, storage and handling, 2) processing, 3) distribution and 4) consumption – contribute to the problem of food wastage in Singapore.