Mr Speaker, Sir,
During the debate on the Motion on Advancing Mental Health in February, I spoke about the importance of being kind, which would go a long way towards improving our collective mental health.
The Good Samaritan Food Donation Bill that we are debating today helps to promote more acts of kindness in our society.
Every day, we throw away more than two million kilogrammes of food. This is a tremendous amount of waste, which is even more regrettable because we import more than 90% of our food. The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) hopes that the enactment of this Bill will encourage more F&B premises, food producers and retailers to be kind and donate excess food instead of throwing it away.
With this Bill, these donors will be shielded from liability from deaths or health issues from the consumption of cooked food, provided that four conditions are met. We believe that these conditions, which include ensuring that the food must not be unsafe at the time it was donated and the food donor must inform the food recipient of the handling requirements, are reasonable and should not pose an excessive impediment to food donors.
The National Population Health Survey, conducted by the Health Promotion Board in 2019, found that approximately one in 10 households in Singapore lack sufficient access to food. Even though we live in an era of great material abundance and our country has achieved great economic progress, there are still some amongst us who are struggling to even put food on the table. As a nation, we can and should do more to help this group of vulnerable Singaporeans.
Sir, I hope that beyond this Bill, the Government will also do more to encourage individuals and companies to donate their excess food to the needy. This will also have a positive impact on the environment. Singapore’s only landfill, Semakau Landfill, is already more than half full as of the end of last year and is projected to reach capacity by 2035. Food waste is one of our biggest waste streams, accounting for about 11% of the waste generated in Singapore in 2023. Any reduction in food waste will go towards extending the lifespan of Semakau Landfill.
The Government can consider implementing tax reliefs to businesses that donate unsold or excess food to charities, so that there is a stronger incentive for companies to do the right thing and redistribute their unsold or excess food instead of throwing it away.
Additionally, would-be food donors may face logistical challenges in transporting their excess food to food distribution centres or charities. We can also consider providing tax incentives to transport or platform companies to assist in this effort by providing food pickup and delivery services for larger F&B enterprises.
I hope that after this Bill is passed, more companies and individuals will step up and generously donate the excess food after their catering events or unsold food at the end of the day to the needy. There will always be someone out there who will appreciate having that food on the table.
Let us reduce food waste and build a kinder Singapore together. Mr Speaker, PSP supports the Bill.