Home in focus: Going green by saving greens

Ground-up initiative SG Food Rescue helps reduce waste by distributing unwanted food to community fridges, charities

Boxes of fruits and vegetables that are sorted and ready for volunteer drivers to pick up and deliver to local charities. Within an hour, volunteers can collect more than 1,000kg of food at the wholesale market. Volunteer Nicolas Theodoru pushing a t
With the help of other volunteers, Ms Wendy Sexton (right) lifts a box of collected capsicums which are meant to be disposed of due to the irregularity of their colours, at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. Fruits and vegetables are still edible even if they look a little unconventional. ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
Boxes of fruits and vegetables that are sorted and ready for volunteer drivers to pick up and deliver to local charities. Within an hour, volunteers can collect more than 1,000kg of food at the wholesale market. Volunteer Nicolas Theodoru pushing a t
Volunteer Nicolas Theodoru pushing a trolley loaded with unwanted fruits such as mangoes and watermelons past stacks of onions to the collection point for sorting at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. Every week, about 95 volunteers from all walks of life help in various programmes organised by SG Food Rescue. ST PHOTOS: BENJAMIN SEETOR
Boxes of fruits and vegetables that are sorted and ready for volunteer drivers to pick up and deliver to local charities. Within an hour, volunteers can collect more than 1,000kg of food at the wholesale market. Volunteer Nicolas Theodoru pushing a t
Volunteers sorting out rescued vegetables at the collection point before redistribution. Food rescuers are advised to do a look, smell and taste test to ensure the food collected is safe for consumption. ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
Boxes of fruits and vegetables that are sorted and ready for volunteer drivers to pick up and deliver to local charities. Within an hour, volunteers can collect more than 1,000kg of food at the wholesale market. Volunteer Nicolas Theodoru pushing a t
SG Food Rescue volunteer Arlene Ng (left) collecting unwanted pomegranates from a fruit seller in Little India, where food rescue missions take place in the morning every Monday and Friday. ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
Boxes of fruits and vegetables that are sorted and ready for volunteer drivers to pick up and deliver to local charities. Within an hour, volunteers can collect more than 1,000kg of food at the wholesale market. Volunteer Nicolas Theodoru pushing a t
Above: Fruits that are not edible, such as these bananas, are disposed of in a compost bin. ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
Boxes of fruits and vegetables that are sorted and ready for volunteer drivers to pick up and deliver to local charities. Within an hour, volunteers can collect more than 1,000kg of food at the wholesale market. Volunteer Nicolas Theodoru pushing a t
SG Food Rescue volunteers having lunch at Krishna's Kitchen after delivering rescued food to its kitchen. The SG Food Rescue beneficiary in Veerasamy Road is a free food point serving vegetarian Indian food to the public. ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
Boxes of fruits and vegetables that are sorted and ready for volunteer drivers to pick up and deliver to local charities. Within an hour, volunteers can collect more than 1,000kg of food at the wholesale market. Volunteer Nicolas Theodoru pushing a t
Boxes of fruits and vegetables that are sorted and ready for volunteer drivers to pick up and deliver to local charities. Within an hour, volunteers can collect more than 1,000kg of food at the wholesale market. ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
Boxes of fruits and vegetables that are sorted and ready for volunteer drivers to pick up and deliver to local charities. Within an hour, volunteers can collect more than 1,000kg of food at the wholesale market. Volunteer Nicolas Theodoru pushing a t
Retiree Chua Chee King, 73, a resident volunteer, helping to restock the community fridge at Block 508B Yishun Avenue 4 with the rescued vegetables and fruits. ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
Boxes of fruits and vegetables that are sorted and ready for volunteer drivers to pick up and deliver to local charities. Within an hour, volunteers can collect more than 1,000kg of food at the wholesale market. Volunteer Nicolas Theodoru pushing a t
Mr Daniel Tay (centre) coordinating the loading of rescued food onto the truck for redistribution at the wholesale centre. He takes on the role of stacker, fitting the crates of food in the truck to ensure they do not topple when the vehicle moves. ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
Volunteers helped to load crates of potatoes into a truck, which will be delivered to local charities, soup kitchens, and a couple of community fridges in Yishun and Tampines. ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
Volunteers unloading cartons of fruits and vegetables at Krishna's Kitchen, one of the charities that SG Rescue supports. ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
SG Food Rescue volunteers posing for a group photo with their collection of food rescued for the day. ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
A fruit seller giving a lesson to a volunteer in choosing a good apple. ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
Volunteers are briefed before the start of each food rescue session. ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN SEETOR
Neo Xiaobin  Executive Photojournalist & Benjamin Seetor Executive Photojournalist
Updated
Published
June 10, 2019 at 5:00 AM
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The first time Ms Wendy Sexton saw the sheer amount of ugly but edible food discarded as trash at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, she was moved to tears.

While they may not have looked perfect for selling in shops, the kilos of discoloured capsicums, bruised tomatoes, misshapen eggplants, overly ripe bananas and slightly blemished vegetables could have been served up at any table, said the part-time lecturer at the National Institute of Early Childhood Development.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 10, 2019, with the headline Home in focus: Going green by saving greens. Subscribe

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MCI (P) 076/10/2022, MCI (P) 077/10/2022. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.

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