“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 •
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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 •
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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 • • •
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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”!