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MYSAVE FOOD
TO HELP SAVE MILLIONS OF RINGGIT
WASTED IN THE COUNTRY
“VALUE FOOD, NO WASTE”
As part of the global initiative by the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations to reduce food
loss and food waste, SAVE FOOD initiative is a
comprehensive and inclusive approach to address the
global crisis starting from national level. As a shared
responsibility, one of the strategies is to develop the Save
Food Network to promote comprehensive and effective
plan to reduce food waste and loss in the foo systems.
Currently, more than 50 countries and 350 organisations
have joined the SAVEFOOD Network since its inception in
2011. Malaysia joined this initiative by forming the
Malaysian Save Food (MYSaveFood) Network in 2015, the
aim of which is to create partnerships and collaborations
in order to reduce food loss and waste in Malaysia. The
current players of MYSaveFood Network include Malaysia
Agriculture R&D Institute (MARDI), Ministry of
Agriculture (MOA), Solid Waste and Public Cleansing
Management (SWCorp), Ministry of Health (MOH), The
Southeast Asian Council for Food Security and Fair Trade
(SEACON), Consumer International and The Lost Food
Project. The main role of MYSaveFood is to catalyse
nurture constructive efforts to reduce food loss and waste
in Malaysia, This has been well received and supported by
the Deputy Prime Minister during the launch of the
MYSaveFood initiative on the 10th March 2016 in
conjunction with the FAO Asia-Pacific Regional
Conference at Putrajaya International Convention Centre
(PIcc)
“Globally one third (1/3) of food produced is lost or wasted
yearly along the food system amounting to a staggering 1.3
billion metric tonnes or RM4.4 trillion”
“Based on research by SWCorp Malaysia in 2015, approxi-
mately 15,000 metric tonnes of food waste are generated
daily in Malaysia, 3000 metric tonnes are Untouched and
Edible leftover
@ Rice Harvest Losses amounted to 28.5% (RM918 Million
per year) which is lost along the food chain. Post-han
‘000 losses for vegetables and fruits is estimated to be about
es Is Cee ES an 20-50%. Supermarkets in France have been baniied fromthrowing away or spoiling unsold food, by law and
are now required to donate unwanted food to
charities and food banks. Could Malaysia similarly
benefit from legislation to control food waste in the
country?it is shocking indeed. Every day, Malaysia
disposes of 3,000 tonnes of preventable food waste,
the largest contributor of solid waste and lergest
source of harmful greenhouse gases in the country.
The amount makes up between 31 and 45 per cent
of an average of 36,000 tonnes of garbage
generated annually, says the National Solid Waste
Management Department. The national coordinator
for the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local
Government Ministry-Japan Environment Ministry
collaboration project, Dr Theng Lee Chong, says
households contribute the largest portion of food
waste, followed by night and wet markets, food
courts and restaurants, hotels, and the food and
beverage (F&B) industry. He believes that a
stringent, rather than the carrot-and-stick approach
will reduce the amount of disposed food scraps.
“Regulations should be introduced, particularly in
the F&B industry. In Japan, the F&B industry is
subject to the Food Recycling Law. Even though the
law focuses on food waste rather than food wastage,
it still helps reduce food wastage indirectly, as the
F&B industry needs to comply with a regulated food
reduction and recycling rate.” Dr Theng says
awareness of the importance of food waste
management in Malaysia is low, but adds that he has
seen an improvement in recent years. “Some hotels
have started to think of alternatives instead of
throwing away edible food. The first food bank |
developed with the Petaling Jaya City Council tries
hard to get hotels’ participation, Some restaurant
operators advise customers to order less food, as
well as provide containers so that customers can
bring home leftovers,” says Dr Theng, who is also
Association of Environmental Consultants and
Companies of Malaysia deputy chairman. He says
some hypermarkets sell
partly damaged vegetables
and fruits at a lower price
instead of dumping them
into landfills. Said Malaysian
Agricultural Research and
Development Institute (MARDI)
director-general Datuk Dr
Sharif Haron that while
legislation is effective in
controlling food waste, MARDI
continues to advocate the
voluntary approach through
awareness, persuasion and
education, appealing to stakeholders in the F&B
industry. “We need to educate the public on how
much value we put in food, and we are persuading
large hypermarkets and supermarkets to donate
soon-to-expire food to the needy and charities
instead of disposing the items, which will end up in
landfills. “If the result remains poor after the
campaign, we will need to go down the enforcement
route. Laws will be implemented if necessary."
MARDI and the Ministry of Agriculture and
‘Agro-based Industry (MOA) are the coordinators of
the MYSaveFood programme, which promotes the
reduction of food loss and food waste. “Food loss
and food waste have adverse effects on food
security, the environment, natural resources, the
cost of living and waste management. The response
we are getting has been very positive,” says Sharif.
He says there is no difficulty in persuading
stakeholders to be part of the network as many
realise the importance of the initiative, but adds that
he foresees challenges in securing commitment
from all members to reduce food waste, as “the
attitude and urgency is still very low". “The network
needs to constantly update information that it gets
from local and international sources on ways to
reduce food loss and food waste. There are
traditional or common perceptions and practicesby
Sih rl , 4
St ae ee ry Cine) at ALOFFAL Oh 24th May2016
that need to be changed, such as ‘it's better to serve more food than just enough’ and ‘if we think the food
is not enough, usually, it is enough’.” Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) president Cheah Swee Hee
agrees with Sharif. “As a business organisation, we can control daily hotel food wastage by producing less
food, but it is different for catered functions and events. Sometimes, organisers anticipate a bigger crowd
than the amount that turns up and they order excess food, which ends up being wasted. In these cases,
we have no choice but to dispose of the extra food. “We don’t allow the removal of excess food from the
premises as we need to ensure the health and safety of our customers, The food may be in good condition
when served on the premises, but it may be contaminated when it's being transported because of wrong
handling or storage.” Cheah, who is also Asean Hotel and Restaurant Association president, says MAH has
signed a memorandum with the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation and is working
with the Food Aid Foundation in a corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme to see how food can
be recycled and food wastage prevented in the hotel and catering industry. Instead of imposing a ban or
legislation, GCH Retail (M) SdnBhd, which manages the Giant, Cold Storage, Market Place by Jasons and
Mercato supermarkets, believes that the government can provide incentives to organisations to give away
surplus food to charities. “We don't believe in wasting food and support any effort for food surplus to be
placed in the hands of the hungry, as well as contribute to reducing damage to the environment by
recycling organic waste,” says GCH Retail corporate affairs director Roseta Mohd Jaafar. “Like other food
retailers, we have small amounts of food that are no longer fit to be sold, but are suitable to be eaten. We
have found a partner with which we work to give away surplus food to charitable organisations. We are in
the final stages of announcing our CSR programme to reduce food wastage.” The limited practice o
turning food waste into compost or animal feed is also to blame for the large volume of food in landfills
Sogo (KL) Department Store SdnBhd managing director Datuk Andrew Lim Tatt Keong says authorities
should get more F&B stakeholders involved in composting food
waste and appoint a coordinating agency to transport the compost
to recycle it for use as crop fertiliser. “Sogo KL sends food waste tc
Penang to be composted. In Penang, our main store, Gama, is
actively composting. Penang has between 60 and 70 compos
machines in schools, government agencies, departmental store:
and factories, and there is a logistics company ready to transpor
the compost and recycle it for use as fertiliser. This system i
lacking in Kuala Lumpur, as each company has its own way c
dealing with things and there's no standard procedure.”
To join and be a member of the MYSaveFood Network, please contaci:
j =~ Email: shusna@mardi.gov.my ; aniadila@mardi.gov.my
3 Telephone : 603-8953 7202
p) Website : www.save-food.org
EX FB : Mysavefood
Twitter : @Mysavefood