Earlier in October, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail revealed an alarming statistic in Parliament.
Citing a study by SWCorp Malaysia, the Minister informed the house that a whopping 3,000 tons (approx. 3,000,000kg) of food that are still considered safe enough to consume are thrown away on a daily basis nationwide. Yup, 3 million kilos! He was quoted by The Star as saying,
“If served, the food can feed two million people. However, the food is not saved but thrown away instead.”
Source: Berita Harian
Now, more recent statistics unveiled by SWCorp (18th December) show that over 16,688 tonnes (16,688,000kg) of food is thrown away on a daily basis, which is enough to feed 12 million people three times a day!
Food waste also increased by 15% to 20% during festive seasons every year.
As for how to resolve this concerning issue, Saifuddin stated in October that the government was looking to roll out the Malaysia Food Bank programme in January 2019 in an effort to save food from being thrown away and distribute it instead.
Large hypermarkets such as Aeon, Aeon Big, and Tesco are among the retailers that have agreed to collaborate with the government on this initiative while existing food banks such as the Kechara Food Bank, Food Aid Foundation and Mutiara Food Bank will also be involved. Food from this initiative will also be donated straight to families by volunteers.
Source: The Mole
Saifuddin added that this would help ease the financial burden of lower-income families, saying,
“…if we can give bread and foodstuff worth RM30 to a single mother who works as a dishwasher and has five children every day, this would mean that she would be able to save that amount of money for her family.”
Just last year, it was also estimated by the previous government that the state of Penang alone wastes an average of 700,000 kilogrammes of food a day. In general, food waste was also found to be the biggest contributor to Malaysia’s solid waste and most of this food waste is believed to come from restaurants, hotels, and catering companies.
What are your thoughts on this statistic? Let us know in the comments below!
Also read: Shocking Statistic Reveals Penang Wastes Over 700,000kg of Food Every Day
