[Poverty Alleviation] Supermarkets should allow people to check out expiring food items for free (T&

Discussion in 'Economics & Trade' started by Bic_Cherry, Sep 3, 2019.

  1. Bic_Cherry

    Bic_Cherry Active Member

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    [Poverty Alleviation] Supermarkets should allow people to check out expiring food items for free (T&C apply).

    Day BEFORE next day expiry, item will be at 25% discount (understood nationwide system, so no need to stick new label).

    At start of day, same day expiry items will be 50% discount (understood nationwide system, so no need to stick new label).

    Noon time, 60% discount (stick on 60% discount label and do stock check).

    At 6pm, 80% discount.

    Same thing happens at sushi counters since the food item will be disposed off at the end of the day anyway.

    At closing, u can have it for free PROVIDED u make any purchase from the supermarket which is in excess of the free expiring food item value calculated at 80% price discount.

    This will really help the poor, the economy and reduce food wastage in Singapore.


    Simpler ways to reduce food wastage
    Food stalls at coffee shops and foodcourts have a similar problem where unsold food is often discarded at the end of a business day.
    [​IMG]
    Food stalls at coffee shops and foodcourts have a similar problem where unsold food is often discarded at the end of a business day.PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
    PUBLISHED: SEP 2, 2019, 6:58 AM SGT
    We can start small to tackle the issue of food waste before thinking big to overhaul the food supply chain (Overhaul in food supply chain needed, says study, Aug 28).

    For a start, the packaging of food items at major supermarkets can be divided into smaller portions, especially for perishable products, like pre-packed fresh meat and vegetables.

    Unlike in wet markets where such perishables are sold in loose quantities which allows you to buy what you need, you do not have that flexibility in supermarkets.


    This can often result in wastage if such perishables are not consumed on time.

    Second, there are certain housing estates that allow residents to donate excess perishables by depositing them into a fridge while they are still edible. Such foods can then be freely taken by needy residents in the area.

    Such an initiative helps to reduce food wastage while promoting the spirit of communal sharing.

    Third, let's tackle the major sources of cooked food waste. These include hotels which serve buffets.

    Often, dishes are cooked in excess to avoid shortage and hence customer dissatisfaction. Even at functions, such as meetings and conventions or weddings, there would usually be a lot of leftover food.

    If such leftover food is not being channelled to the needy, due to concerns over food safety and liability issues, it is food wastage.

    Food stalls at coffee shops and foodcourts have a similar problem where unsold food is often discarded at the end of a business day.

    If the issue of liability over food safety can be addressed (which the Singapore Food Agency is looking into), then such food can be channelled to the needy without going to waste.

    If we can tackle the basic sources of food waste and reduce it, the current level of food waste can be reduced significantly without any major overhaul.

    Victor Tan Thiam Siew

    https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-on-the-web/simpler-ways-to-reduce-food-wastage
     
  2. Bic_Cherry

    Bic_Cherry Active Member

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    [​IMG]

    Then raise GST to pay for elderly healthcare costs because they are malnutritioned, frequently admitted to hospital etc.

    Really is penny wise pound foolish, no?

    Reference:
    Half of S’pore’s elderly found to be frail, mostly due to malnutrition
    By*TAN WEIZHEN

    A study spanning 14 years and counting has found that half of the elderly here are frail. Photo: unsplash.com
    Published20 JUNE, 2017
    UPDATED 20 JUNE, 2017

    Overwhelming majority of them were single, divorced or widowed: NUS study

    SINGAPORE — A study spanning 14 years and counting has found that half of the elderly here are frail — especially the low-income, and those who are single, divorced or widowed — due to factors including malnutrition, lack of exercise and having chronic diseases.

    With the number of the elderly living alone set to rise, the researchers of the National University of Singapore study yesterday noted that elderly who are frail are twice as likely to die earlier compared to their peers, and stressed the need for senior citizens to take matters in their own hands.

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    “There is much that older people can do for themselves to avoid becoming frail and disabled, so it is vital that they pay attention to a good-quality diet and nutrition, engage in physical exercise, and participate in socially and cognitively stimulating activities,” said Associate Professor Ng Tze Pin, who is the lead researcher.

    At the same time, voluntary welfare organisations and healthcare providers should also work together and roll out programmes for the elderly to have more nutritious meals, or do strength-building exercises such as tai chi or squats.

    STORY CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISEMENT

    The longitudinal study was started in 2003, and involved almost 3,000 elderly aged 55 years and above, with the oldest resident being 96 years old. It found that malnourishment was a big factor in causing frailty.

    More than half of those who were frail were found to be malnourished — a proportion that was more or less in line with the international average.

    Socio-economic factors could lead to malnutrition, Assoc Prof Ng said.

    “Eating is also very social, you’re more likely to eat more with others than alone. So imagine an old person living alone at home, and they’re probably not eating full meals every day, especially if they have no spouse. Also, they may be too poor to afford nutritious, good meals, and more often than not they are simple and bland,” he added.

    Appetite and absorption of nutrients also gets poorer with age, and the situation is worsened if they lose their teeth, he noted.

    Having chronic diseases was also a major factor, with about 80 per cent of the frail elderly having five or more chronic diseases.

    Among the frail elderly, 60 per cent had no formal education, 66 per cent lived in one- or two-room flats, while 45 per cent lived alone. An overwhelming majority — 91.5 per cent — were single, divorced or widowed.

    Assoc Prof Ng — who is from the Department of Psychological Medicine at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine — said that compared to their peers, elderly folk who are physically frail are two to 10 times as likely to become “functionally disabled”, or have a physical or mental impairment that limits their capacity for independent living. He added: “When physical frailty and cognitive impairment are present together in the same individual, he or she is more than 20 times as likely to become disabled, hospitalised or die earlier.”

    A separate study — conducted between 2010 and 2013, involving 250 elderly folk aged 65 years and above — found that intervention measures such as physical and cognitive training, and more nutritious meals, reduced frailty and depressive symptoms among the respondents.

    Their cognitive functioning also improved.

    Following the findings of the two studies, the NUS research team is working with the national Geriatric Education and Research Institute, as well as social service organisations, to develop and implement pilot frailty screening, and community intervention programmes.

    Between 2000 and 2014, the proportion of one-person households in Singapore increased from 8 per cent to 11 per cent, Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin said in a 2015 speech.

    In the speech, he also touched on how changes in family structures — fewer nuclear family households, small household sizes and more aged households — could prompt a re-examination of the way the Government crafts its policies.
    Read more at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/half-spores-elderly-found-be-frail-mostly-due-malnutrition
     
  3. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    could offer them a tax write off for the food given away
     
  4. FatBack

    FatBack Well-Known Member

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    No, they would rather toss it. Some will donate it to a foodbank, others (like WalMart) have a compactor to even prevent dumpster diving.
     
  5. Bic_Cherry

    Bic_Cherry Active Member

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    Thanks for highlighting. Anyway, for discount to be valid, must have all the stickers in stepwise discount (25-50-75-90% stepwise discount etc).

    Maybe for those iffy foods without consecutive/ progressive discount labels attached to prove presence of continuous cold chain storage, can end up at end of day inside community fridge with no gurantee of freshness aside for before expiry date (no gurantee food was in cold chain throughout).

    Those who hide the food will thus not benifit since the food will be confiscated and be free for all later at community fridge (those who want have to queue up and maybe each can only get one item depending on how many people queueing to collect).
     
  6. Bic_Cherry

    Bic_Cherry Active Member

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    May not be necessary if it is a nation wide law to prevent food wastage. Would just be a licensing requirement that companies have to satisfy. All food groceries must have this facility or service to dispose of near expiry fresh foods for free, minimum 1 hour before time of expiry or shop closure, whichever earlier.
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2019
  7. Bic_Cherry

    Bic_Cherry Active Member

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    Cannot underestimate how mean spirited and treacherous PAP leadership can be.

    Just like China Mao Tse Tung government, killed 50 million of his own country man vz hunger, torture and neglect.

    (Apparently, story goes that Mao Tse Tung government liked to dump grain on roadside for foreign visitors to see, so as to mislead them to believe that China behind bamboo curtain was rich; (likewise North Korea where majority of population is starving).
    fixing up his rivals with dirty politics; actually just creating a dynastic, monolithic and despotic authoritarian state, a hermit kingdom under a despotic warlord...
    [​IMG](YouTube; LHL: "fix the opposition")
     
  8. btthegreat

    btthegreat Well-Known Member

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    All of this is 100% real, and it is as applicable in this country as anywhere else. This is my area of professional expertise. A couple of obvious points. These stats probably include the most prevalent form of nutrition deficit in geriatric population - dehydration! We are not making sure these people are getting sufficient fluids and their thirst sensation is just not working as well as it did five years ago. In addition, they are less mobile or have chronic pain which inhibits mobility and access to fluid, many of their medications often tend to impact absorption, kidney function, and electrolyte balance.

    As for the proposal in the OP. Your biggest problem is that those frail elderly are not getting to the grocery stores at all.
     
  9. Bic_Cherry

    Bic_Cherry Active Member

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    Can ask a religious group to organise. Will chat with the recepients and if spot free loader, can always ask him to volunteer service, e.g. empty and clean fridge the next day. Also can brainstorm with him about ways to help the needy in community. If he is rich, can badger him to sponsor another community fridge at another location elsewhere.

    Anyway, the food is to be disposed off and may not be the freeloaders favourite but what is left over and may not even look palatable since nobody bought it even at 90% discount.

    Need to observe the overall result, cannot miss the woods for the trees. If overall benifit is reduced National healthcare costs.

    Will overall reduce food dependency for Singapore, reduce life stress since there are cheap food options and trust between corporates and customers who know that Supermarkets are not in cahoots and operating a cartel to artificially raise prices or even adding to global warming and food wastage since any excess stocks are given away on expiry date FOC.

    For society to develop good morals, the corporates need to take the lead and show good moral values of respect for the environment and human dignity (poverty alleviation) to begin with.
     
  10. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    The downside is that some low income consumers might wait until the food expires rather than pay full price.
    So there could be a potential loss to the supermarket seller.
     
  11. Bic_Cherry

    Bic_Cherry Active Member

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    Hi Ter.
    Thanks for responding from Bangladesh. If your government is serious about curbing food wastage and also helping the poor, then there should be a law to require all grocery stores to place their unsold fresh meat/ dairy and perishable food items with a use by date inside a community fridge or vz give away to the poor for one hour before the end of the day in which the food is considered expired.

    This can be in the form of a community fridge, link up with NGO to collect and distribute, free check out vz usual check out counter for 1 hour before store closure time etc.

    Of course all grocery stores are encouraged to gradually lower the price level of such near expiry goods so as to recover as much of the costs of such excess stock inventory as possible BEFORE expiry date so as to achieve a more economical, orderly and equitable distribution of perishable fresh foods.

    This will ensure better welfare for the community in which the grocery store exists in and the cohesion of the community that any excess in stock inventory does not unnecessarily add to land fill wastes but is given to the poor and also that the true rules of economics of supply and demand are obeyed and food wastage due to the unethical business policy of destroying edible food to artificially keep food prices elevated (or by neglect/ lack of proper planning) becomes an outlawed practice by the state.

    The most ideal state is for customers to help themselves and checkout day of expiry food one hour before store closing time vz the normal checkout counter. Persons caught hiding/ misplacing food with the intention of retrieving it later will be thwarted because stores will have tamper proof stickers to gradually mark down food price levels near expiry date. Chilled food items missing these stickers will be deemed unfit for sale and will be removed from stock inventory immediately if found unchilled etc. Staff may bring home such discarded food items to feed their pet animals, likewise any day of expiry food removed from store shelves at the end of the store business day.

    Basically, all grocery related stores will need to put in place a food wastage reduction program similar or better than the one just mentioned.

    As for canned goods or those with shelf life of 1 year or more, stores shall have to give away the food free on day of expiry. Failure to comply with these anti- food wastage regulations will attract a fine and penalties equivalent to the normal, respective store sales price of the food wasted.

    Ultimately, this may also curb obesity and diabetes rates and the abuse of farmland across the world due to excessive food production to make up for the high costs of wastage. People will treasure and value their food more because supermarkets will be more precise in purchasing food products since customers may prefer to buy significantly reduced price fresh food given the opportunity, thus supermarket purchasers will become much more skilled at inventory management than before.

    Oil companies are regulated on their greenhouse gas emissions. There is no reason why supermarket companies should not be regulated for their food wastage situations.
     
  12. Creasy Tvedt

    Creasy Tvedt Well-Known Member

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    You said.
    There is ALWAYS a reason to not get more government regulation and bureaucracy involved.
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2019
  13. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I am fine with a tax write off and a liability exception in case anyone became sick from eating expired food, let the people choose, as most food is good beyond the sale by date
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2019
  14. Creasy Tvedt

    Creasy Tvedt Well-Known Member

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    I did some volunteer work at a food pantry, and the supermarkets give tons of just-expired food to food banks.

    If you go and experience a food pantry, you'll see why supermarkets choose to donate the food to food banks, rather than giving it away onsite. Food banks are circuses, and having the "free food!" shenanigans happening in supermarkets would scare away paying customers.

    Oh, and the holy grail of supermarket-donated food at the food bank...

    Expired sheet cakes.

    square-1516640562-12119003-10154395147899947-8158799905323447041-n.png

    They fight over them like rabid wolves at the food bank.
     
  15. Creasy Tvedt

    Creasy Tvedt Well-Known Member

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    I'll also add- the food pantry in the city where I live is so big and efficient, and they distribute so much supermarket-donated food, that "food deserts" have been created in many inner-city neighborhoods.

    Supermarkets in the inner-city neighborhoods can't compete with all the free food given out by the food bank, and they've all been going out of business and closing stores one by one.
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2019

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