Sweet potato and tapioca were among the lifesavers to the then Malayans during the Japanese Occupation of World War 2.
It was a period of hardship for many and with the limited availability of rice, tapioca especially was an alternative to the daily staple which we now take for granted.
My late grandmother was no different from other Malayans, as she recalled the hardship, including how they stretched the limited rice rations.
She would often repeat the story to me and my brother, whenever we did not finish our breakfast, lunch or dinner. It was drummed into our heads for many years, as she sought to inculcate the value of food in us.
We were told we must never throw away good food. If it’s not finished, you are likely to find it in the fridge, instead of the rubbish bin. A few days later, lo and behold, it will make its way back onto the table. We were not given any other choice — eat what is on the table or starve.
Decades later, as Malaysians put the horrors of the war behind them and their economic standing improved, instead of being a necessity food has become a way of life.
One of the unique features of our nation’s food culture is we can have food at anytime of the day or night. There are 24-hour outlets that cater to our whims and fancies. With such ease in getting food, it is no wonder that food wastage is becoming more rampant in this modern age.
Thus, when Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Nogeh Gumbek on May 24 revealed that Malaysians waste 15,000 tonnes of food daily, including 3,000 tonnes still fit for consumption, it may have surprised many but the impact was not there.
The 15,000 tonnes is equivalent to 1.5 million bags of 10kg rice, which was a sizable amount during the Japanese Occupation. It would definitely have shocked my late grandmother and others of her generation. And, food wastage is not only occurring at the end of the food chain but also during the production process.
Research conducted by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute shows that 28.4 per cent of rice is wasted. As for fruits and vegetables, 20 to 50 per cent is thrown away.
However, food wastage is not limited to Malaysia. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) senior enterprise development officer Dr Rosa Rolle said that, globally, about 1.3 billion tonnes of food valued at RM4.4 trillion is lost or wasted yearly.
FAO also revealed that global quantitative food losses and waste per year are roughly 30 per cent for cereals, 40 to 50 per cent for root crops, fruits and vegetables, 20 per cent for oil seeds, meat and dairy, and 35 per cent for fish.
Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes) said the international body.
Apart from a waste of natural resources, just imagine how the wasted food could be used to feed the poor in the many parts of the globe.
In a bid to curb food wastage, France has become the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food.
Under a law passed unanimously by the French Senate, unsold food will now be passed to charities and food banks.
Back in Malaysia, when the Consumer Association of Penang came out with the suggestion that restaurants impose an eat-or-pay obligation on customers who do not finish their food, and that there should be legislation for this, it received a lukewarm response.
Nor Shahid Mohd Nor, in a letter to the New Straits Times, proposed that consumers be educated on food wastage before the authorities introduce legislation to deal with the problem.
Whether it is through education or through law or a combination of both, what is important is that the message gets through to our consumers.
One aspect of legislation we should emulate is the approach taken by France i.e. requiring unsold food to be donated to charities and food banks. It should also be expanded to other outlets besides supermarkets.
This may not reduce food waste dramatically or overnight but it would be a step in the right direction.
B. Suresh Ram is a curious cat who believes that his curiosity is going to get the better of him one day. This Perak-born
Tottenham Hotspurs supporter has two decades of journalism under his belt