“We always make links between food wastage and Africa. But, if we didn't waste food, how much will the poverty situation be improved?
Familiar?
Let me show you one more.
"Our parents always say don't waste food cause the children in Africa are starving. But then, even if we don't waste food they also have nothing to eat what. Funny horh?"
The first quote is a direct copy from my friend's twitter. She's a JC2 student.
The second quote was told to me by my cousin who is still in primary school.
Yes, it's a fact that no matter how much food wastage there is, the starving people in Africa will still,
be starving.
However, no, it is not a valid reason to waste food. It is not a valid reason to think that food wastage is
"okay". It is definitely not the mentality to have when you're full and you decide to throw your food away just because, "Oh, even if I throw all these away, it doesn't make a difference to the problem of starvation."
Somehow whenever I hear people speak like this my heart aches. How did we become like this?
Yada go ahead with the argument of "freedom of speech" I do not care.
I remember during SIWW, I saw trays and trays of good food being thrown into the bin. I recall how the aunties and uncles who worked there asked us to take more food to eat and how they secretly packed the food for us because it was not allowed to be brought out. When they told us taking away was forbidden, I was... I was, ha, I don't know how to describe. Appalled? Not intense enough.
I remember the exact words.
“不可以带走的！一定要丢！”
What message are they sending? That discarding of perfectly fresh food is more acceptable than bringing the food out of the convention centre for employees to bring home for consumption?! I really don't understand the mentality of those people with higher education level than myself.
I once saw this video of this group of people who were doing a documentary on the problem of starvation in Africa. They filmed parts of their journey and I watch the part when they arrived at this victimized village. This naked child, skinny till his skin was wrapped to his rib cage. He was lying in the middle of this road. It is not even a road lah, it's was just bare soil ground. The researchers didn't touch him because they didn't know the reason why he was left there (he might be carrying a disease or something). Then they found his brother who brought some muddy water to bath him. I think the researchers called for help but didn't help the boy themselves because the boy was so weak that if they moved him, they could hurt him. I don't know what happened next cause I closed the video. As usual, I didn't have the courage to watch it.
Take a look at the situation there and take a look at the things we're doing here in Singapore.
It's not even about "wasting food won't help starving children" anymore.
The reason why we are taught not to waste food and think of the starving Africans is not even about if they will be fed if we did not waste food. It's not even about trying to improve the situation there .
It's about giving thanks to what we have, where we are and that we are able to cloth ourselves properly. It's about being grateful that we won't have to go hungry or thirsty and not being able to do anything about it. It's about knowing what we have and what others are literally dying to have and appreciate it like we won't have it tomorrow. It's about hoping, someday, when we grow up, when we finally have the ability to, we can help people who are less fortunate. That maybe in future, we will never have to link poverty with Africa ever again.