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Reality show seeks ‘food champions’ in drive to cut down waste
As one-fifth of all the food we eat goes to waste, new campaign proposed in waste management plan seeks to raise awareness over consumption of food.
28 October 2013, 12:00am
James Debono
James Debono
2 min read
Stop! Tonights dinner can be tomorrows lunch. The Maltese waste 22% of all their purchased food
Don't fancy much that chicken breast left in your plate? You could turn it into soup for tomorrow's lunch.
Plans for a nationwide educational campaign spearheaded by 'food champions' and bolstered by a TV reality show offering prize money to contestants who cut down on their food waste, are among the ideas proposed to address the rampant waste of food in Maltese households, which amounts to 22% of all purchased food items.
The campaign against food waste is proposed in the Waste Management Plan unveiled on Tuesday by Environment Minister Leo Brincat.
Food waste is estimated to constitute 56% of domestic waste and on average, Maltese consumers dispose 2.6kg of the 12kg of food consumed each week.
This waste of food is blamed on incorrect purchasing patterns and a lack of understanding of 'best by' and 'use by' labelling, as well as by incorrect storage. Food waste is also generated by overly estimating individual food portions. Lack of knowledge on food preparation and cooking and the automatic discarding of leftovers also contribute to food waste.
According to the new plan, reducing food waste requires a greater change in behavioural patterns, sometimes dictated by time constraints such as the tendency to buy in bulk to avoid multiple shopping trips.
One serious obstacle is consumerism itself, as households end up buying more than they can reasonably consume.
According to the plan, this waste of food not only undermines sustainable production and consumption patterns but also "requires increased infrastructural capacity to collect and treat this waste".
The educational measures outlined in the plan include road shows at local councils. Supermarkets will also be sounded out on whether they will accept authorised personnel on their premises who will advise costumers on their consumption patterns, and to promote a wiser purchase of food.
'Food champions' will also be assigned to demonstrate the benefits of changing behaviour.
But the most innovative, albeit potentially bizarre idea, is that of offering prize money during a reality TV programme aimed at raising awareness on these issues.
"This could be coupled by offering prize money for television reality programmes aimed at food waste minimisation in a similar way as is done with themed programmes on weight loss," the plan states.
The reality show will reward participants and feature cooking spots with a view of emphasising cooking with leftovers.
The target of the campaign will be to increase the number of committed food reducers by 10% per annum.
A five-year NSO survey to determine the amount of food waste and biennial surveys to establish the number of committed food waste savers, will ultimately monitor the achievements of this campaign.
James Debono is MaltaToday's chief reporter on environment, planning and land use issues, ...
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These statistics are more than a nonsense they are a serious over-statement of the truth.
Essentially, as the Waste Industry seems to say almost everywhere else, including the United Kingdom and Ireland and in Italy Greece Spain Portugal etc., etc., the wasted food constitutes almost a quarter of the total of that which is attributable to every man woman child pensioner prisoner new-born babies hospital patient and those in care homes. This is tests the veracity of the figures. Almost everyone who has knowledge of living immediately during the second world war - and many that were born up to the mid/late 1950s - would not waste food bearing in mind the costs of same and the hardships of the war years. And as for nursing children...the idea is bunkum.
Think again statisticians you are wrong. We know how these figures are made up and they are false.
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(1) "a TV reality show offering prize money to contestants who cut down on their food waste". I would never win this contest, as I abhor waste. (2) "Food waste is estimated to constitute 56% of domestic waste". I will never believe this figure, which must be an exaggeration. Was this figure issued by Malta's NSO, by any chance? Or is all the Pitkali unsold left overs, and hotels and restaurants leftovers part of this figure? (3) "on average, Maltese consumers dispose 2.6kg of the 12 Kgs of food consumed each week." Meaning that the NET food weight offered for consumption to families would be 14.6 Kgs? And is the figure per family (how many members?) or per person or what? (4) I am sure that I and a host of other Maltese citizens have always believed in the saying; Waste not, want not!
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With climate change I think we soon experience crop shortage,so we have to learn not to throw food away.And besides even in Malta some families cannot buy the required food.
