One couple in Singapore is fighting food waste by rescuing food meant for the trash.

Janet and Derek are the founders of Food Rescue @ Sengkang, an initiative they started in May 2019.

Saving food from the trash

With the motto "Feed the people, not the bins", the pair along with volunteers, receive calls from wholesalers, shops and hypermarkets who have unsold food.

These unsold products, after being deemed edible, are then transported, packed and distributed to the needy and vulnerable people in the community.

Aside from fruits and vegetables collected from wholesalers, Food Rescue @Sengkang collects bread and other confectionaries from small bakeries and businesses as well.

With low sales during the circuit breaker period, they have also been helping these businesses by taking the food off their hands and reducing wastage.

Hosts giveaways for the needy

Food Rescue @ Sengkang carefully collates all the items, and hosts free giveaways at void decks and other areas, where residents are invited to come and pick out what they need.

According to their Facebook, these foods are typically distributed to low or lower middle-income families.

"As such, our small initiative not only reduce food waste but also reduce the grocery bills of these families. In reality, we do not restrict anyone from participating in our initiative as long as they can accept that these are rescued foods."

Food Rescue @ Sengkang stated that although some of the food might have blemishes, they are otherwise in good condition.

Donating food to migrant workers

Food Rescue @ Sengkang has also been restocking community fridges in Punggol.

These fridges are meant for low-income families to access groceries and other food necessities for free.

The group also took it upon themselves to donate some food to migrant workers at three dormitories.

They said:

"If our initiative can make small impacts on the lives of some Singaporeans and foreigners alike especially during these difficult times, we feel that our efforts are not wasted and we will continue with our initiative even though it can be tiring and time-consuming given our limited resources."

Top photo courtesy of Janet Lee and Food Rescue @ Sengkang / FB