what is shared food?

Roughly one third of the food produced every year (1.3 billion tonnes!) gets lost or wasted. Food losses and waste amounts to roughly US$ 680 billion in industrialized countries and US$ 310 billion in developing countries. The world produces 17% more food per person today than it did 30 years ago. Despite this, close to a billion people go to sleep hungry every night. This highlights that many people in the world who are living in poverty lack access to food and the income to purchase it. 

As we address developing countries' issue of food shortages, we also have to pay attention to the excess amount of food being wasted in developed countries. The amount of food being wasted in developed countries alone stands at 230 million tonnes. This number equates to the amount of food being produced in Sub-Saharan Africa. Hence, this becomes a pressing issue that we need to address. With better ways of managing our food waste, we will consume our Earth's resources more efficiently, leading to better food sustainability.

Foodsharing sites have since surfaced to encourage people to prevent leftovers from going to waste. One such app is called Leftoverswap - where people can offer leftovers to other locals for free. By allowing people to give away their leftover food to other people, this minimises food wastage. However, since food is perishable, donors and recipients often live close to each other. The app allows for anyone to share their leftovers - people need not have a certificate to prove that they are licensed. Hence, the issue of hygiene and quality of food comes into place. Furthermore, who is to be legally responsible if a receiver suffers from any side effects after consuming a donor's leftovers? However, the chances that someone deliberately serves undercooked or inedible food is low since.

Food sharing may not only be limited to processed and cooked food. Companies like Cropmonster allows farmers to post excess crop that would otherwise be composted.

Other types of foodsharing sites include Too Good To Go, where restaurants put up food that was leftover from peak periods. These foods are priced at a fraction of its original price. In comparison to Leftoverswap, Too Good To Go features licensed restaurants. Although buyers would have to pay for the leftover food (as opposed to getting it for free under Leftoverswap), purchasing from licensed restaurants would further assure buyers of the quality of food.

Food sharing can also be in the form of shared kitchen space. Sharing of kitchen space is often utilised by home-based food businesses who want to scale up their business - setting up a shop may be too costly, yet permanently using their homes to cater to their business may not be feasible in the long run. Baker's Brew Studio in Singapore rents out their studio to individuals who share a common passion of baking. This is not only economically friendly for home-based bakers, but also encourages a social network among other bakers who are just starting out in the business.


References:
https://www.oxfam.ca/there-enough-food-feed-world
http://www.fao.org/save-food/resources/keyfindings/en/
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/food-start-ups-turn-to-shared-kitchen-spaces
http://www.bakersbrewstudio.com/kitchen-rental