Just shortly after the Christmas and New Year festivities, tables and bellies will once again be heaving as Filipinos celebrate the Chinese New Year. For Pinoys, holidays are never merry without parties, which usually means eating out and partaking in more-than-what-you-can-eat buffet. During holiday seasons, restaurants are forced to dispose of tons of customers’ uneaten food in the trash bin.
Unilever Food Solutions (UFS) is urging professional chefs in the Philippines to reduce the amount of food wasted in their kitchens over the festive season through more efficient ordering, menu planning and producing more realistic food portions, reducing the amount of edible food that is thrown in the bin. With the global effort United Against Waste, UFS takes the lead in changing the mindset of restaurant chefs, food operators and consumers towards food waste.
In a developing country like the Philippines, one would think excessive consumption would not be a problem. But according to the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST), Filipinos waste P14.4 million worth of rice alone a day. Every Filipino wastes 22 grams of edible food per day. Metro Manila, which produces 8,600 tons of wastes daily, makes up 25% of the national waste, a huge portion of which comes from biodegradable wastes such as leftover food. Worldwide, three (3) million tons of food goes to waste every year.
Renowned international chef Cyrille Soenen joins UFS’ campaign against food wastage as United Against Waste Ambassador. “With the call for greater awareness on more mindful consumption growing nowadays, the role of chefs and culinary experts goes beyond coming up with outstanding cuisines. We are also compelled to come up with creative ways to prevent excessiveness, while at the same time still providing our customers with the best quality of food.”
A little goes a long way. With a careful ordering and menu planning, restaurants can save tons of resources. By carrying out a full audit of the kitchen, chefs and restaurant owners can find out the main causes of food waste and measure the amount of food being wasted every day. Employees should be engaged to understand how to minimize food waste effectively, by maximizing use of food including vegetable peelings, orange and lemon peels. Diners should also be encouraged to take home the food they are not able to finish.
Designed to highlight the issue of food waste to professional chefs within the restaurant and food service industry, Unilever Food Solutions will be launching its Chefmanship Academy this year which will offer professional chef courses on how to manage food waste, among other training modules.
United against Waste is a global campaign initiated by Unilever Food Solutions.
