Contents
Introduction
Choice of Topic ————————————————————————————– 3
Problem and its Context ————————————————————————– 3
Rationale for Choice of Topic ——————————————————————– 4
Approach to Action Plan
Target group and Rationale ———————————————————————- 6
Causes of Expansion
Lack of awareness of methods to deal with food waste ———————- 7
Food wasted often due to large portion sizes being served —————— 8
Our Approach ————————————————————————————– 10
Strategy 1: Food Hero Game
Purpose of Strategy —————————————————————————— 12
Details and Rationale —————————————————————————- 12
Evaluation of likely effectiveness ————————————————————- 14
Strategy 2: Food Hero Canteen Strategy
Purpose of Strategy —————————————————————————— 16
Details and Rationale —————————————————————————- 16
Evaluation of likely effectiveness ————————————————————- 19
Conclusion
Overall Strengths of Project ——————————————————————– 22
Limitations of Project —————————————————————————- 22
Future Development —————————————————————————– 23
References ————————————————————————————————————— 24
Appendix A ————————————————————————————————————– 27
Appendix B ————————————————————————————————————– 31
1 | Introduction
1.1 | Choice of Topic
Our project aims to examine and offer solutions to the expansion of food wastage amongst Singaporean consumers.
1.2 | Problem and its Context
The increasing trend and magnitude of food wastage in Singapore is a cause for concern. Over the past decade, food waste generated locally has increased by 48% and is predicted to increase due to growing population and affluence (NEA, 2015). The average waste generated annually by Singaporeans has increased by almost 200kg between 2000 to 2014 (“159,000 tonnes more waste generated”, 2016). This shows that food wastage has persisted and expanded locally, with further growth projected.
Food wastage can be attributed to bad habits cultivated by daily actions. A 2015 survey conducted by kitchen appliance brand Electrolux of 1000 respondents aged 18 to 65, revealed that 51% of waste generated resulted from poor portioning. Moreover, 48% of respondents disposed of expired food and 23% discarded leftovers as they were repelled by the thought of its consumption (Zero Waste Singapore, 2015). This is corroborated by findings from a 2010 research conducted by Nanyang Technological University undergraduates on 174 Singapore residents, which revealed that 60% purchase more than necessary when grocery shopping, leading to overstocking of food that is more likely to expire before consumption (Today, 2015). Thus, it can be deduced that poor consumption behaviour likely leads to more food waste.
1.3 | Rationale for Choice of Topic
This topic was chosen due to the detrimental impacts food wastage has on Singapore. Due to food wastage, Singapore experiences several negative impacts, potentially affecting Singaporeans. This makes mitigating effects of food wastage crucial.
Firstly, extensive food wastage has negative environmental impacts on Singapore. Food waste disposed in landfills releases methane, a pollutant 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide, contributing greatly to global warming (Princeton University, 2014). As landfills are the main method of food disposal in Singapore, it contributes significantly to global warming. In 2015, 87% of Singapore’s food waste was dumped into a landfill. Consequently, global warming’s impacts such as rising sea levels and changes in water cycle are a serious concern to Singapore (NCCS, 2015). Food wastage, as a contributing factor, puts Singapore at risk of such issues.
Moreover, expansion of food wastage would deplete Singapore’s land space, making it impossible to discard all food waste generated into Singapore’s only landfill. Large investments are needed to construct incinerators which helps control waste. At the current rate food waste is rising, Singapore would require a new incineration plant every 7 to 10 years and a new landfill every 30 to 35 years (Clean & Green Singapore, 2015). With Singapore’s long-term population parameter of 6.5 million people, more land space is needed to house increased population and overall increased food waste (Ministry of National Development [MND]). This hence poses problems as Singapore’s limited land space gives rise to huge opportunity costs.
Lastly, expansion of food waste threatens food security since Singapore is vulnerable to fluctuations in food supply and prices, with 90% of food being imported (AVA, 2013). With increased incomes and population, Singapore’s food wastage is bound to increase if the average food waste generated by individuals remain constant. Therefore, to secure Singapore’s access to safe and nutritious food, active measures must be implemented to ensure food resilience and reduce dependency on other countries (Teng & Escaler, 2010). Dangers of overreliance on other countries include the food supply running short or being cut off. By decreasing the amount of food wasted, Singapore can hence import and depend less on other countries. Thus, reducing food wastage can help maintain a base level of food security.
2 | Approach to Action Plan
2.1 | Target Group, Rationale
We chose to target primary school students, as they form the core of future society. Measures to reduce food wastage amongst primary school children is pertinent because as they age, good food consumption habits cultivated from young could prevent worsening of the problem at hand.
Moreover, the issue of food wastage is significant among this age group. Our survey involving 51 primary school students aged 7 to 12 revealed that 66.7% do not regularly finish their meals in school (Figure 1). Out of this 66.7%, 57.8% have more than a quarter of their food portions leftover (Figure 2), indicating the large extent to which primary school students waste food. Therefore, reducing food wastage amongst primary school children can aid in minimizing the prevalence of the problem greatly.
Figure 1: Breakdown of whether students finish their meals
(Source: RJ024, 2016)
Figure 2: Breakdown of how much food is left after a meal
(Source: RJ024, 2016)
2.2 | Causes of Expansion
2.2.1 Lack of awareness of methods to deal with food waste
One reason why food wastage is prevalent among primary school students is that majority are unaware of methods to deal with food waste. None of our survey respondents indicated other methods of dealing with leftovers aside from the provided options. Additionally, 85.3% would throw away leftover food and the remaining 14.7% either keep their leftovers for later consumption or get a friend to finish it (Figure 3). This displays ignorance amongst primary school students about food waste management methods, since majority end up throwing away leftovers. This implies that they are unaware of better alternatives to deal with their food waste.
Figure 3: Breakdown of methods students use to deal with leftover food
(Source: RJ024, 2016)
2.2.2 Large portion sizes being served
Another reason for expansion of food wastage amongst primary school students is the large portion sizes served in school canteens. Our survey revealed that 76.5% of respondents who have leftovers regularly stated that too much food being served results in them being unable to finish their meals (Figure 4). This shows that the expansion of food wastage is attributed to the lack of portion size control.
Figure 4: Breakdown of the reasons behind leftover food
(Source: RJ024, 2016)
2.3 | Our approach
In order to tackle the causes of food wastage expansion amongst primary school students, we propose the adoption of Project Food Hero as shown in Figure 5 (RJ024, 2016).
PROJECT FOOD HERO
Figure 5: Overview of proposed solutions to address root causes and the approach
(Source: RJ024, 2016)
Firstly, to address students’ lack of awareness in dealing with food waste, awareness of food waste is increased by introducing an educational digital game, Food Hero Game. This game allows students to mitigate food wastage problems virtually. Thereon, lessons learnt can be incorporated into their daily lives as students learn more about the various ways to deal with their food wastage.
Secondly, to tackle the problem of large portion sizes causing expansion of food wastage among students, students are further educated about extent and impacts of food wastage during Food Wastage Awareness Day, whereby some ways in which they can help reduce food wastage is introduced. This supports the implementation of Food Hero Canteen Strategy, whereby stall vendors will start selling meals in different portion sizes for students to have wider options. Food wastage can hence be reduced when students choose appropriate portion sizes for themselves, minimising their personal food wastage.
3 | Strategy 1: Food Hero Game
3.1 | Purpose of Strategy
Food Hero Game aims to provide a platform to educate primary school students on their crucial role in food wastage management. By engaging students using a digital game adopted by schools, students’ awareness regarding methods of dealing with food wastage in Singapore would increase.
3.2 | Details and Rationale
Food Hero Game is based on a storyline with 3 sections: Prologue, Main Story and Ending. Questions posed throughout the game cover 4 domains, namely types, magnitudes, impacts and methods of reducing food waste.
In Prologue, students play the role of a food hero recruited by the National Food Agency and undergo a training process where they learn how to carry out their duties. Various food crises would arise, introducing students to the issue, consequences and ways to reduce food wastage in the form of pop up tutorial boxes.
In Main Story, the recruit is sent to various locations around Singapore with levels of increasing difficulty. They will be tasked to analyse each new situation presented by identifying the source and type of food wasted, potential consequences and methods to alleviate the problem. Clues will be provided to help the recruit achieve their objectives.
Depending on the decisions made, there are two possible ending scenarios. If a student attains an accuracy score of 85% and above, Singapore is seen to be prosperous as problems have been successfully resolved. This allows students to observe that prevention of undesirable outcomes can be avoided if the various food waste management methods are applied in real life. On the other hand, if a student attains an accuracy score below 85%, an undesirable ending will be shown (Figure 6), where negative impacts of food waste such as global warming and food scarcity, are highlighted. This is meant to emphasis the impacts of food wastage, urging students to actively control food waste in their lives.
Figure 6: One possible ending of the Food Hero Game
(Source: RJ024, 2016)
3.3 | Evaluation of likely effectiveness
Food Hero Game is built around a storyline, with 3 different stages – Prologue, Main Story and Ending. This confers effectiveness as the different phases progressively build up their food wastage knowledge and reinforces the knowledge learnt from previous phases. Students first learn about the different aspects of food wastage during Prologue. Knowledge gained from Prologue is required to combat food wastage crises that arise during the Main Story. In Ending, students are shown the impacts of their decisions, highlighting how choices made in daily life can affect society on a much larger scale in both short-run and long-run. Since the game emulates reality, where players’ choices directly affect the outcome, students are motivated to take on a more active role in reducing food waste. Therefore, the game effectively facilitates learning about food wastage management and the importance of them taking action.
Food Hero Game is likely to be well received by primary school students as the digital game medium is more interesting and engaging than traditional pen and paper lessons (Patrick, 2011). This modern day approach fits well with the increased usage of electronic gadgets amongst their age group (O’Neale, 2014). Since it is easier to capture and maintain students’ undivided attention for long time periods through games, enabling students to focus (Griffiths, 2002), our strategy is likely to be effective. Moreover, 98% of our survey respondents have indicated a positive attitude towards the interactive game (Figure 7). This suggests the greater appeal of the strategy to students, making more of them willing to play the interactive game. Hence, the strategy’s effectiveness is increased.
Figure 7: Breakdown of responses to using the Food Hero Game to learn about food wastage
(Source: RJ024, 2016)
Furthermore, Ministry of Education (MOE) would most likely be willing to adopt the solution. MOE is the creator of an existing National Education game, “Reboot”. This indicates that MOE perceives the use of digital games as a suitable medium to gauge and simultaneously increase young children’s knowledge of a specific topic. This also implies that MOE has the resources to create the proposed Food Hero game as the concept behind the two games are similar. Hence, MOE would be more willing to invest the time into the development of this game as part of their efforts in getting their students to reduce food waste. Additionally, schools would also be willing to adopt the solution as they recognise the students’ willingness to participate and benefit from this activity due to the online nature of the game.
4 | Strategy 2: Food Hero Canteen Strategy
4.1 | Purpose of Strategy
In order to tackle the problem of large portion sizes, Food Hero Canteen Strategy aims to expand portion size options in school canteens. Students are given a choice of 3 different meal sizes so as to reduce food wastage due to large portion sizes. This new system will be publicised to the entire school before implementation and students will be encouraged to capitalise on the new system by understanding its relevance, which is done by educating them about food wastage.
4.2 | Details and Rationale
The strategy will be carried out in 3 phases, namely the Publicity, Portion Control and Informative Phases.
During Publicity Phase, posters are designed by student leaders to publicise the new canteen system with tagline “Let’s Taste, Not Waste” (Figure 8). Eye-catching bright colours and shocking statistics regarding food wastage in Singapore will be included to capture students’ attention. These posters will be placed at strategic locations in schools near food waste bins, utensil return sites and beside canteen stalls 2 weeks before the canteen system’s implementation on Food Wastage Awareness Day. The posters thus serve to inform the students of the food waste issue and hype them up for the event.
Figure 8: Example of a poster that can be used
(Source: RJ024, 2016)
During Portion Control Phase, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, two new portion sizes will be launched on Food Wastage Awareness Day. It features a smaller than standard portion size sold at a reduced price for students who are unable to finish standard sized meals as well as a larger portion size sold at a higher price for students who would like to eat more than a standard meal, but are unable to finish two. These portion sizes will be demarcated by 3 different dish sizes – small, standard and large (Figure 9). This new approach ensures students obtain a suitable portion size that they can finish, thus reducing food wasted due to excess food served.
Figure 9: Plate sizes relative to each other
(Source: RJ024, 2016)
During Informative Phase, information booths will be set up in the canteen to encourage students to reduce wastage of perishable foods. Students will thus be more inclined to choose the optimal portion size for them as they will learn how their actions can make a difference. Various activities, including a Comic Strip competition and the playing of promotional videos, will also be conducted.
For the Comic Strip competition, students will be tasked to create comic strips pertaining to food waste reduction. Winning submissions that display creativity and accuracy will be compiled along with some simple tips on food wastage management and be distributed to all students. The publication to the whole student body is meant to entice students to participate and extend the outreach beyond those who participate.
Promotional videos focusing on illustrating the impacts and significance of mitigating effects of food wastage will be played in canteen. This is done by collaborating with the school’s drama club to come up with a short story that displays effects and impacts of food wastage. Through this, students are encouraged to play a larger and more active role in reducing food wastage as they have seen a possible real life example of food wastage through the enactment.
4.3 | Evaluation of likely effectiveness
The strategy is likely to be effective in minimising food wastage as it provides students with a choice of 3 different portion sizes suited to their needs whenever they order their food. A project conducted by G. Dunlap and D. Liso found that “choice making is effective because it allows the child to feel that he or she has some control or power over the environment” and that the control “motivates the child to participate and remain engaged longer” (CSEFEL, 2004). Hence, our approach of providing choice would ensure that the initial response would likely be positive as students are being actively involved in this decision making process.
It would also be effective due to strategic placements of the posters near food waste bins, utensil return sites and near canteen stalls, where students usually walk past carrying food. With these posters put in place, students are reminded about their contribution to food wastage, shocking them into being motivated to change their food consumption habits. On top of this, the posters build-up anticipation for the event, making them look forward to the event and be more interested in it.
Correspondingly, our survey results indicate that primary school students would generally be receptive to the strategy as 92.2% of respondents gave a positive response to the use of portion control plates (Figure 10). There is hence a high probability that they would be willing to actively utilise the strategy to reduce their food wastage, increasing the probable effectiveness in getting primary school students to cut down food waste.
Figure 10: Breakdown of responses to the implementation of portion control plates
(Source: RJ024, 2016)
Additionally, activities held during Food Wastage Awareness Day are likely to be effective in raising awareness regarding food wastage as they are the top 3 choices of 94.8% of respondents, indicating preference towards having them during Food Awareness Day (Figure 11). As such, students are more likely to participate and look out for the activities as they feel that these are the best platforms to learn about food wastage. Hence, the customisation of the strategy to fit their wants would boost the effectiveness of the strategy.
Figure 11: Breakdown of the top 3 choices of platform to learn about food wastage
(Source: RJ024, 2016)
5 | Conclusion
5.1 | Overall Strengths of Project
The main strength of the project is that both strategies collaboratively increase food wastage awareness, each reinforcing the objectives of the other. The Food Hero Game educates students on the types, magnitude, impacts and methods of reducing food waste, while the Food Hero Canteen strategy gives students an opportunity to put into use what they have learnt during the various events conducted during Food Wastage Awareness Day. It reinforces the knowledge that has been taught in Food Hero Game by making students utilise their food wastage knowledge. This two-pronged approach allows outreach to be more effective and holistic in educating students.
5.2 | Limitations of Project
Our project has its limitations. Most crucially, students may not actively participate in the various activities conducted during Food Wastage Awareness Day and may not treat Food Hero Game seriously. This laidback attitude will cause the educational aspects of these measures to become less effective as students may not be willing to learn. To counter this, points will be awarded to students who manage to achieve an accuracy of 90% and above in Food Hero Game and come up in top 5 in various activities conducted on Food Wastage Awareness Day. Points will be counted towards a “Best Class Award”, which is awarded to 1 class per level with highest number of points accumulated from the participation at various events throughout the year. They will also be awarded a ‘Best Class’ badge, which can be worn alongside the school badge. This, acting as an attractive incentive, would motivate students to participate more actively in the challenges, thereby increasing the outreach of students being taught about food wastage and understanding the importance of strategies.
5.3 | Future Development
The project’s future development can be done by expanding the project to secondary schools to see a quantifiable reduction in food wasted. The difficulty of Food Hero Game can be increased to cater to the more advanced level of learning in secondary schools. By doing this, knowledge and skills taught are consistently reinforced and reiterated to them. Therefore, good food consumption habits can be nurtured more effectively. In the long-term, it would make them more likely to continue practicing such habits into adulthood. Outreach to a wider age group thus allows the project to obtain maximum effectiveness. More resources can also be used to analysis effectiveness of our strategy for the specific group of students. This would allow for follow-up work.
References
Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore. (n.d.). The Food We Eat. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://www.ava.gov.sg/explore-by-sections/food/singapore-food-supply/the-food-we-eat
Boh, S. (2016, April 16). 159,000 tonnes more waste generated. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/159000-tonnes-more-waste-generated
Dunlap, G., & Liso, D. (2004, August). Using Choice and Preference to Promote Improved Behavior. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/briefs/wwb15.pdf
Felicia, P. (2011, March). What evidence is there that digital games can be better than traditional methods to motivate and teach students? Retrieved September 4, 2016, from http://linked.eun.org/c/document_library/get_file?p_l_id=22779&folderId=23933&name=DLFE-749.pdf
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (n.d.). Food Wastage Footprint. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://www.fao.org/nr/sustainability/food-loss-and-waste/en/
Food Waste Habits of Households in Singapore. (2015, October 16). Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://www.zerowastesg.com/tag/2015-electrolux-food-waste-at-home-survey/
Food Wastage in Singapore. (2015). Retrieved August 28, 2016, from https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/hp331-2015-31/social/
Food Wastage in Singapore. (n.d.). Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://www.savefoodcutwaste.com/food-waste/food-wastage-in-singapore/
National Environment Agency. (2015, March 11). Factsheet On Food Waste Management. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://www.nea.gov.sg/docs/default-source/corporate/COS-2015/cos-2015-media-factsheet—food-waste.pdf
National Environment Agency. (n.d.). Love Your Food. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from https://www.cgs.sg/docs/default-source/fwr/FWRguide.pdf?sfvrsn=6
O’Neale, R. (2014, February). Kids online: The Statistics.
Retrieved September 1, 2015, from
http://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/health-and-community/enewsletter/kids-online-statistics
Othman, L. (2016, January 10). Singapore needs to rethink food wastage: Masagos. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-needs-to/2413008.html
Princeton University. (2014, March 27). A more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, methane emissions will leap as Earth warms. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 28, 2016 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140327111724.htm
Teng, P., & Escaler, M. (2010, December). The Case for Urban Food Security: A Singapore Perspective. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from https://www.rsis.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/NL101231_NTS_Perspectives_Dec2010_Issue4.pdf
Yuan Lin, K. (2015, October 22). Singapore's food waste problem is an issue that's hard to stomach. Retrieved August 28, 2016, from http://www.todayonline.com/lifestyle/food/singapores-food-waste-problem-issue-thats-hard-stomach
Appendices
Appendix A
Survey Questions
Preamble:
Hi,
We are a group of students from Raffles Institution working on our GCE A-Level H1 Subject, Project Work. We hope to propose solutions to reduce food wastage amongst primary school students. Our solution is to implement an online game that educates primary school students on how they can play a crucial role in dealing with food waste and why it is important for them to actively do so, and the launch of portion control plates in schools. Thus, we would like to gather your insights on this issue and feedback on our suggested solutions. Please rest assured that any information gathered will be used solely for academic purposes and will not be disseminated outside the context of this project. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Dewi, Kavya, Elena, Marcus, Annette
Question 1. How old are you?
________________ (fill in the blank)
Question 2. On average, do you regularly finish the meals that you purchase in school?
Yes (Skip to question 6)
No
Question 3. On average, how much food is left on your plate?
Less than a quarter of the food
A quarter to half the food
More than half the food
Question 4. What do you do with the food you can’t finish?
Pack it for later consumption
Ask a friend to help finish it
Throw away
Others: _____________
Question 5. Main reason why I don't finish my food is…..
Too much food is served
Dislike the taste of the food
Unknowingly ordered too much
Other: _____________
In order to curb food wastage, an initiative is promoted in schools featuring a small portion size selling at a slightly reduced price and a large portion size selling at a slightly higher price. The aim of this initiative is to provide a wider variety of portion sizes to fit the varying appetites of students.
Question 6. If there was such an initiative, do you think your peers would actively choose to purchase the portion size which suits their needs?
Yes (Skip to question 8)
No
Question 7. Why do you think that your peers would not choose to purchase the portion size which suits their needs?
In order to curb food wastage, an interactive game on food wastage is created in which students are put in the role of a food hero recruit of the National Food Agency, where they will be educated on the issues, consequences and ways to reduce food wastage. This is done by making it the food hero recruit’s task to save the country from an impending disaster caused by accumulation of food waste.
Question 8. Would you be interested in playing this digital game about food wastage?
Yes (Skip to question 10)
No
Question 9. How can we improve this game to better interest you?
Question 10. If you had to choose a platform to learn more about food wastage, which would you be most interested in? (with 1 being MOST interested and 7 being LEAST interested)
Mark only one circle per row and column.
Question 11. What other platforms that are not mentioned above would interest you to learn more about food wastage?
Appendix B
Survey Results
Question 1. How old are you?
Question 2: On average, do you regularly finish the meals that you purchase in school?
Question 3: On average, how much food is left on your plate after your meal?
Question 4: What do you do with the food you can’t finish?
Question 5: Main reason why I don't finish my food is…..
Question 6: If there was such an initiative, do you think your peers would actively choose to purchase the portion size which suits their needs?
Question 7: Why do you think that your peers would not choose to purchase the portion size which suits their needs?
if they buy the portion size that suits their need , they would think that the food would not satisfied their craving
Embarrassed to eat too much compared to other people
too shy to get a larger portion, scared of getting mocked at
they will not be able to accurately gauge how much they can eat
Question 8: Would you be interested in playing this digital game about food wastage?
Question 9: How can we improve this game to better interest you?
Less generic
Question 10: If you had to choose a platform to learn more about food wastage, which would you be most interested in?
Question 11: What other platforms that are not mentioned above would interest you to learn more about food wastage?
Social media
Social media
NA
Speed Quiz Contest about food wastage
no opinion
Can't think of any
games about food wastage
Games
Quiz
Social media maybe
Not sure
story book
nil