THOSE who have attended wedding dinners and company banquets are surely familiar with the sight of leftover food at these events, but how many of us wonder where all this food goes?

According to the National Solid Waste Management Department, Malaysians throw away an average of 3000 tonnes of perfectly edible food every day. Most of the time, this food waste ends up in a land fill or it is illegally dumped along the road side or in rivers.

In 2016, Malaysia was ranked 35^th out of 113 countries in the Global Food Security Index (GFSI). The index, measured annually, is used by countries as a benchmark for ensuring that their populations are secure and free from starvation.

Security vs Sustainability

The GFSI measures food security primarily in terms of the affordability and availability of resources. But in 2015, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) introduced a new concept of ‘sustainability’, in which food loss and food waste are listed as some of the main components.

Food loss and waste are measured in the Food Sustainability Index (FSI), a composite index covering 25 countries and 16 cities that comprise 87% of the global economy.

In line with the UN SDGs, the FSI measures food loss and waste, nutrition and sustainable agriculture from a quantitative and qualitative perspective. Based on these indicators, France, Japan and Canada were ranked top three countries that have most sustainable food systems.

Malaysia and food sustainability

While our country has been proven to be fairly secure in terms of its food security outlook, the same cannot be said for food sustainability (Malaysia was not one of the evaluated countries in the FSI).

Judging by the way most of us easily discard our leftovers, we are far from being on the right track when it comes to reducing food loss and wastage.

From a policy response perspective, what has been done to address the burgeoning problem of food waste?

One major initiative that comes to mind is a project commissioned in 2014 to gather information about food waste practices and develop solutions for food waste management, with the overall goal of diverting food waste from entering landfills towards proper treatment at waste generators.

The project, which was then called the “National Strategic Plan for Food Waste Management”, was spearheaded by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in collaboration with the Japanese government, who were also main sponsors. Among other things, the project was meant to aid the government in setting up regulations on food waste.

Yet, up until now, the study has not been made publicly available and no policies have been released on the issue.

Incurring health hazards

Last year, the French government, in efforts to improve food sustainability, implemented several legislative reforms to combat food waste. These reforms encompassed tax incentives for supermarkets and farmers to donate excess food, and other laws aimed at reducing food wastage.

By comparison, Malaysia still has a long way to go.

Solid and comprehensive legislation on food waste is scarce. Most of our current policies on food waste, such as the National Strategic Plan for Municipal Solid Waste, target end consumer waste, without considering wastage situations that occur further up the supply chain.

Moreover, in terms of waste management, there are no landfill taxes nor efforts to promote mandatory waste separation at sources.

Without proper management solutions, the over-accumulation of food waste in landfills can result in serious environmental hazards, namely contaminated air emissions. According to the Second National Communication Report on Climate Change, methane gas, produced through the decay of food waste, already constitutes 47% of emissions. (Methane gas is a greenhouse gas that has been proven to be more potent than carbon dioxide).

The way forward

Policymakers need to put more effort into devising a proper framework to address food loss and waste.  One way to improve is to review and adopt FSI parameters to evaluate our current state of food sustainability.

At the same time, passing laws will be for naught if enforcement is weak. Government institutions should therefore step in to supervise the implementation of food waste solutions.  

A key target of the UN SDGs on food waste is to cut down food waste per capital to half by 2030.  To reach this target, we need to step up our efforts to implement policies that address food waste and food losses.

At the same time, such efforts should go beyond the end user level to consider the entire food supply chain, where food waste and losses are also prevalent.

At ground level, there are many practical ways that we, as responsible citizens, may begin to form sustainable habits: limiting food and grocery purchases to quantities sufficient for daily needs, for example, or finishing what is left on one’s plate are good practices to start with. – May 28, 2017.

* Esther Sinirisan Chong is a member of Agora Society. She was born and raised in the Land Below the Wind. Her research interest lies in education and government policies, and the history and heritage of East Malaysia.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.