New programme to combat food wastage in Indonesia
Indonesians throw out an average of 300 kilograms of food per person annually as the country suffers from poverty and malnutrition. Now a new programme intends to sort the problem out.
This picture taken on 19 March 2018 shows a waitress packing uneaten food for distribution through the programme 'A Blessing to Share', after a wedding at a hotel in Jakarta. In the slums of Jakarta, Indonesia`s poor are getting a taste of how the other half live thanks to a new programme that aims to take a bite out of its mammoth food-waste problem.
According to a study from the Economist Intelligence Unit, Indonesia is the world’s second largest food waster, binning almost 300 kg of food per person each year.
The country's food waste problem can be partly chalked up to local hospitality, which calls for ample helpings at all celebrations.
Globally, about 30 percent of food produced every year is tossed out or spoiled, about 1.3 billion tonnes, which translates into some US$1 trillion in economic costs, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Association.
But now, a new programme called 'A Blessing To Share' is taking a bite out of Indonesia's mammoth food-waste problem.
Volunteers of pack leftover food from events, mainly weddings, and deliver them to those in need.
"There are lots of weddings in Indonesia and lots of surplus food. And there are lots of hungry people, unfortunately. So this programme is trying to close that gap between the rich and needy," the founder of the programme, Astrid Paramita said.
In less than a year, the programme has collected more than a tonne and a half of food that's brought smiles to a lot of faces.
TRT World's Yasin Eken has more.
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