Is Singapore Hungry? (PPT)

“IS SINGAPORE HUNGRY?”local food issues, in a nutshell

Heather Chi

“…{Food for All} is an independent research organization that conducts action-oriented community research on food issues in Singapore…We aim to raise awareness of hunger and food security issues, take action, and encourage the appreciation of food!”

{Local Food Issues}• Local poor: Is

Singapore hungry? • Food security: where

does our food come from?

• Food prices: who’s setting them and what can we do?

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Background• Volunteered at local food

rations programme in 2006• Assisting low income

households and elderly couples• May 2009: 280 families, S$3000

for rice, cooking oil, canned food, bread, milk powder, cereals (< total value of food distributed because of June surplus and food already donated before email appeal)

Why Are People Hungry?

• Possible reasons include:– Inability to obtain viable long-term

employment, esp. lack of suitable job opportunities for elderly

– Inaccessibility of the poor: “no begging” laws, difficulty communicating due to language barriers and complicated applications for formal social services

• Hunger plays a part:– Focus on short-term needs (i.e.

food) and may be unwilling/unable to plan ahead for income stability

– Affects physical and mental health, and ability to make rational decisions

Current Situation

• No public statistics on hunger and poverty in Singapore; some research on local poverty conducted by the NUS Social Work Department and documented by various NGOs

• The hungry are discovered when RCs, NCs and VWOs do door-knocking

• Food from the Heart (www.foodheart.org): Best established food rations programme in Singapore assists some 11, 000 families through bread distribution, school goodie bag programme and self-collection centres

• Preliminary survey by Food for All has identified an additional 45 FRPs (mainly in CDCs and RCs) - assisting 50-200 people each

Issues encountered

• Ad-hoc: FRP not core activity of Family Service Centre/Community Centre --> offered due to demand from needy residents

• Manpower: packing and distributing of food rations was done mainly by elderly volunteers with RCs and students

• Cost of food: rations bought at retail price (35-45% markup*); higher food prices creates higher demand for food rations

• Black market: No documentation of FRPs and little communication between FRPs --> scams whereby same persons apply to multiple FRPs and hoard food

• Inappropriate food: Over-reliance on single corporate sponsor; halal food; inability to afford fuel to cook dried food; variety, etc.

Reflections• Many more hungry and poor than we

may think - many are invisible• Food Rations Programmes in

Singapore are hidden too! • Current programmes may be stop-gap

measures rather than an integrated long-term strategy to combat poverty and hunger

• Issue is not food shortages, but a lack of information and capacity

• Poor and hungry not involved in community organizing - leading to ‘bad fit’ and disempowerment

• Need for holistic understanding of food resilience: incorporating action on food prices and community food security

What Can Be Done?

• Encouraging community food programmes that involve the hungry as an equal partner

• Documenting FRPs and putting them in touch with each other, and with the relevant government agencies

• Creating platform for FRPs to purchase directly from food suppliers and distributors

• Raising awareness of extent of hunger and poverty: involve more community groups and NGOs to conduct effective food drives

• Researching the root causes of hunger and poverty in Singapore

{Thank You!…}

or do you have “questions”!