Food Wastage - Guilt of the fortunate

I was looking up on some useful links for my sister's compostable bin liners website when I came across a couple of articles in the Guardian on food waste.

My parents were brought up in post-independent Singapore where commodities were scarce then and being thrifty was a virtue. I like to think I've inherited some of their virtues and try my best not to indulge myself - saving any last bit of leftover ham for tomorrow's stir-fry or freezing anything that can be defrosted decently - from bagels to rice, from soup to curry. You name it, I've tried it. I actually like to think Bird Eyes actually stole my idea!

However, the "fortunate circumstances" in the last decade made it only too easy to chunk stash of foodstuff away without much thought of the damage it does to the environment, society and to the world. I, myself for one have been guilty on many occasions and always having an excuse for doing so.

I have always been aware there are food waste news scandal across many developed countries but reading the following articles on food wastage has truly disgust me. There is nothing more uncomfortable than being presented with unpleasant truth and facts and I just want it on the blog to remind myself and the others of how fortunate we are and it's time we think about the way we consume and confront ourselves about society's values and beliefs towards food.

I'll let the articles speak for themselves. Among them are:

• Marks & Spencer requires its sandwich supplier, Hain Celestial Group, to discard four slices from each loaf: the crust and the first slice at either end. This practice means 13,000 slices of fresh bread are discarded every day from a single factory.

• Fruits and vegetables are rejected by supermarket purely on cosmetic reasons.

• In the UK we chuck out a third of the food we buy.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2009/jul/19/food-waste

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Overall, a 2007 government survey found that we throw away some 6.7m tonnes of food a year – a third of the food we buy.

This is a bad idea for several reasons. A high proportion of chucked-out food gets sent to landfill, where it decomposes into methane – contributing to global warming and exacerbating poverty in the developing world. Buying food simply to chuck it out is a waste of all those precious resources – land, water, energy – that were put into growing, processing and transporting it. And there seems something wrong with wasting so much food when so many people across the world are living in poverty.

Of course, some would say that the wastefulness of rich countries like ours has no bearing on poverty in other parts of the world. It's not as if the loaves of bread we're throwing away could actually be shipped to other countries.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/jul/17/food-waste-tristram-stuart

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What is clear is that people embrace freeganism for different reasons. For some, it is part of a general desire to opt out of the capitalist economy. For others, it is more about reducing their impact on the planet and living with a clear conscience. And for others still, no doubt, the motivation is to save money. Stuart's reasons for being a freegan, on the other hand, are both very clear and highly specific. It is a way to protest against what he sees as the shocking extent to which our society wastes food. "If we didn't needlessly throw so much food away," he says, "I'd stop being a freegan.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/19/freegan-environment-food

Injustice

I like a good quote now and then to remind myself about the injustice around the world. Again, stumbled upon this interesting website that sells "tools for change".

It is so easy to get caught up in our daily grind that we sometimes unconsciously find ourselves slowly sucked into the injustice that we think of it to be socially acceptable. (legally accpetable in some situations even!)

In the midst of the UK's MP expenses row, I reflected upon it myself and asked whether I would do the same thing ? One could have been deemed a fool have you not taken advantage of the position and authority that you were given. "What a waste" I hear...

But i came back with one answer in my head.. One should do what is right, not what one can get away.

Forgotten Shanghai

A mesmerizing video of Forgotten Shanghai - The Longchang apartments.

Again, another contrast against the shiny bright lights of the new Shanghai.

Apple Worshipping

A hilarious spoof website of Apple, ridiculing the god-like status of the Apple brand. It makes you think twice about buying yet again another Apple must have !

Saying that.. I admit I do have an Apple imac, ipod touch, ishuffle... booo.. Now, I quite fancy that Sky Projector...

A rainbow cake !

Stumble upon this blog called "Whisk Kid" which what looks like a blog full of cake recipes ! This rainbow cake definitely stopped me in my track (of internet surfing!)

See New York in a different light

I stumble upon this interesting link on Slate. While New York is often portrayed as one of the dazzling destination where all things exciting, fashionable and expensive comes together, there is this observant photographer/writer who brings to our attention the disparity of the human race, remembers the poor and the not-so-fortunate in glamorous New York.

Quoting from the article itself....

"It is not the Harlem where neighbors put out their chairs on the sidewalk and talk with each other. The intersection is where the old-style ghetto lingers on, where people who are not doing well come together."

Exhibition in Brussels, Belgium.

Exhibited a couple of art work in Brussels.

Shown above is an experimental typography art work that came from a reflection and search of personal identity in London. I extracted a random paragraph from a glossy English magazine bought at a newstand in London, and attempt to simulate Chinese characters out of the latin / roman characters, distorting individual characters as and when necessary.

It doesn't look anything like Chinese characters to me but again.. like I mentioned, it was an attempt. It was a process to find the "Chineseness" in an English world. Although someone(a Belgian) at the exhibition told me it did somewhat look like Chinese characters to him from far.

I think this work represents the questioning of my personal identity as a Singaporean in London.

Silk screen on paper.

There have been some interest in the work and I'm now thinking of producing a few copies for sale.









The exhibition was held in the beautiful Art Deco style building - Museum of Musical Instrument (MIM), renowned for it's collection of over 1500 musical instruments. The whole building was made out of girded steel and glass.

I wished I had my DSLR with me to capture some of the architecture details although I think I would have been too exhausted to concentrate on any photography as we were all busy with getting ready for the exhibition.

Little Oscar

My sister and my little nephew came to visit yesterday. It's amazing to see how little babies grow by the day and the next thing you know, they are no longer lying quietly by their cot but actively crawling around, making noise and poking their fingers into any holes and crevices that they can find.

I was especially amused by how fascinated he was trying to check out the letterbox brush seal at the bottom of the door, trying to figure out the texture of brush.

Rainbow sky

This spectacular view emerged after a rainy winter afternoon from the living room of my B&B host - Erick, in Brussels, Belgium.

Erick's apartment is part of an Art Deco style building with lots of character to it. I thought it was tastefully decorated and immaculately well kept ! One of the best B&B I've stayed in. Erick is such a friendly and easy going host that I'll definitely return to him if I'm going to Brussels again.

For those interested, this is his website called "Welcome to my place". He also has 2 very adorable cats in the apartment which he loves them to bits !

I was in Brussels for a couple of days to exhibit a few pieces of my art work at the Museum of Musical Instrument and was very lucky to find such a great accommodation like Erick's place ! I totally recommend it.

Below is another image captured from his living room.