BEFORE the year ended, there was good news from Congress. The House of Representatives approved a bill that would reduce food wastage through the donation or recycling of excess edible food. In the December 15, 2020 plenary session, 221 congressmen voted to pass House Bill 7956, or the "Food Surplus Reduction Act," on third and final reading with no abstentions.
A counterpart bill needs to be passed by the Senate for it to finally become a law. Our cabalen, Senator Lito Lapid, filed on December 18, 2019 Senate Bill 1242, or the Zero Food Waste Act. It is still pending in the committee level.
House Bill 7956 consolidated 17 bills, all of which would promote the donation and recycling of excess, edible food. The measure covers food manufacturers, food establishments such as restaurants, cafes, diners, fast-food chains and hotels, supermarkets, and culinary schools. Owners of these establishments are required to segregate their food surplus.
The bill mandates the implementation of a National Zero-Food Waste Campaign to raise awareness on the impact of food surplus and strategies to decrease wasted food at food-related businesses and at the household level.
The proposed law also seeks to establish the linkages between food businesses, food banks, and local government units to create a community-based food distribution system for the food-insecure. Guidelines and standards shall be provided for the collection, storage, and distribution of edible food donated to food banks. Penalties shall be imposed for selling food donations and causing edible food surplus to be unfit for human consumption.
The bill however addresses only one source of food waste. There is wastage in the entire food production process from harvesting, processing, transport and retail. There is waste too at the consumer level. According to the United Nations, around 14 percent of food produced is lost between harvest and retail. Significant quantities are also wasted in retail and at the consumption level. In the case of fruits and vegetables, more than 20% is lost.
The government can help reduce food waste at the farm level by providing storage facilities and palay drying equipment. Precious rice grains are lost when farmers use cemented roads for drying their harvest. At the retail level, a strong and clear policy on food labeling is needed. At present, the confusion on "expiration date" and "best before" labels are causing consumers to throw away perfectly edible food. At the Mabalacat City Council, I did my share of reducing food waste by authoring an ordinance requiring food establishments to include half-cup rice in their menu.
Food waste is not just an environmental and economic issue. It is also moral issue. Pope Francis said that throwing away food is like stealing from the table of those who are poor and hungry. "Sabi da pin deng mangatwa, mapapa ka!"