OFFICIAL (CLOSED) \ NON-SENSITIVE
OFFICIAL (CLOSED) \ NON-SENSITIVE
AY2021 Semester 1
G101 Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Lesson 10-12: Feeding the hungry
Worksheet package II: Proposal Template
Food Insecurity Proposal
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Introduction
Our proposal aims to understand the food insecurity mismanagement problems in or order to propose working solutions to overcome one or more of these problems as part of our Service-Learning. This problem must be taken seriously as a lot of food has gone to waste due to the lack of understanding of our target groups’ dietary requirements. In the next section, we will be assessing the problems or issues using the 5 whys, nested diagram as well as the connection circle. We hope that you will take our three key solutions into considerations which is the incorrect matching of food to households leading to food wastage, uncoordinated efforts by food-support groups including NGOs, and uneven distribution of food rationing among food-insecure households. They are Greater Coordination and Targeting of Food Support (collection of data base about their dietary requirements and number of people per household), Prioritizing Nutritious and Quality Food, and Increasing Education to raise awareness for students.
Foodbank (2018) reported that food Insecurity is the state of being unable to afford enough affordable or nutritious food. Food is a basic human right. According to the United Nations’ State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019 report, 4.1 percent of Singaporeans experienced moderate to severe food insecurity between 2016 and 2018. The report considered both survey responses and country-level data such as food consumption and availability. (By comparison, the figure was 5.4 per cent for South Korea, 8.1 per cent for Indonesia and 13.4 per cent for Australia.) From the data given on, we are more aware of the existence and the statistics food insecurities problem in Singapore. We will then narrow down the reasons or root causes to this problem.
Problems/Issues
To investigate food insecurity concerns, a few systems thinking approaches can be used to discover the root causes of food insecurity in households. This includes nested system tools that can be used to find out the various sub-systems that lead to the food insecurity in Singapore. The nested system is categorized by Individual, Community, Society and National.
The target group of food insecure individuals or households are elderly, adults, and young children who are unable to buy food for themselves due to frail health and financial constraints such as mortgage/rental payment. The stakeholders involved in the problem and are facing challenges are Food Bank Singapore, Free Food for All, Willing Hearts, Food from The Heart, Keeping Hope Alive, Volunteer Switchboard and SG Food Rescue. These stakeholders are involved in the problem as Singapore Food organizations are the ones that provide food aid to the food insecure individuals or households which led them to face challenges like “Food Aid causes more harm than good” and food wastage due to not knowing their dietary preferences.
The problems have been addressed before, however; people have different opinions on the issue which led to not being able to resolve these problems. For instance, they end up giving way excessive food since they are not sure how much to give to each household and most of it ends up being wasted as it cannot be finished within the expiry date. Another possible reason could be different people having different food preferences. Although most people would say “beggars can’t be choosers,” it is still a problem to be giving people any type of food. There could be instances where they are not able to eat meat or like the elderly who are unable to eat canned soup as they are unsure of the preparation method. This would result in them not having a proper diet since they are unable to eat the food given or provided, which could potentially result in chronic illnesses as well as the food being wasted and spoiled from being kept too long. Besides that, none of the organizations made the effort to implement systems to help these households. Without systems to check on how many organizations are providing food to each household and to track the individuals’ dietary preferences for each household, it leads to problems like these.
One impact is that there is a lot of food being wasted as by the time the food is delivered, some of it is rotten. Thus, as a large quantity of food is being given out to the needy, this could mean that there is a large amount of food that might have gone bad by the time it is delivered. This results in substantial amounts of food being wasted. Besides that,
Proposed solution(s)
(i) Based on the above-mentioned points, firstly, Greater Coordination and Targeting of Food Support can be made possible via careful assessment of food needs among the target groups and matching the type of food support to specific characteristics of the target group. For example, ration packs should be given to those with the means or health to cook and vouchers should be given to those who have the mobility to purchase food. Also, to provide them with an adequate amount of food based on the number of people in different households to avoid extra wastage of food. Besides that, we can also collaborate/work with organizations to note down the individuals’ dietary requirements (database) so that we can prevent them from giving them food that they are unable to consume. After better understanding their dietary requirements, we can provide them with a list of options to choose from, based on the type of food that they prefer. This list can include frozen nuggets or sausages for adults or/and children. Secondly, Prioritizing Nutritious and Quality Food can be facilitated through food organizations combining resources so that fresh nutritious food will be made available for those in need. For example, the staff of one organization we interviewed can try out the lunch packs that are going to be distributed to ensure that the food is of decent quality. The same is applicable to other organizations distributing food ration packs. They should provide food items that form a balanced meal rather than just canned food, snacks and/or drinks. Lastly, Increasing Education to raise awareness to students about food insecurity will help to prevent misconceptions and increase their empathy toward food insecure individuals. In addition, a representative survey of the population can be carried out to study the differences within vulnerable groups.
(ii) Our solutions can contribute to creating a less stigmatized food support environment and generate support to tackle food insecurity in Singapore to cater to the specific needs of certain families and reduce food wastage. As Such, Greater Coordination and Targeting of Food Support allows an open mapping of food support provision across food organizations to highlight “over-served areas” and areas of needs.
Review
We can overcome food insecurity through a food systematic approach, viewing food insecurity as a “System” with multiple stakeholders and interrelated issues providing long-term holistic solutions to tackle it. For instance, Prioritizing Nutritious and Quality Food may increase expense, however the long-term benefits of nutrition and health beneficiaries should take precedence. An unintended consequence can be breaching the beneficiary’s data by the Service-Learning Club members whereby they have access to data surveys being conducted.
Food insecurity is multifaceted, it is important to take a food systems approach to tackle the issue. As highlighted in this report, food support alone only short-term relief. To overcome food security, organizations can link up closely with social service organizations providing other means of support. This includes financial management workshops, employment support, access to health subsidies, and tuition for children. While such an approach takes time, it provides focus for the long-term and holistic solutions required to tackle food insecurity.
Firstly, we may run a poll to see how individuals perceive the food support environment and how big of an impact our solutions have had on their perceptions. Secondly, if families who received aid were able to access food that met their individual requirements, we could collect feedback from them. Thirdly, to evaluate if food waste has decreased, we could use self-reported surveys or food waste diaries to track how much food is wasted.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many interrelated elements in the food complex. The goal of this proposal is to look at the gaps that government bodies and the stakeholders haven’t been able to fill completely. These include the assessment of target populations’ food requirements, tailoring the type of food assistance to specific characteristics of said groups, prioritization of fresh and nutritious food and finally, the increasing of education to promote student understanding of food insecurity in order to avoid misconceptions and develop empathy for those who are food insecure. While the proposed solutions may not provide immediate advantages, they will undoubtedly aid in the long-term alleviation and mitigation of food insecurity.
References
Tan, Naomi, et al. “Food insecurity in Singapore: The communicative (dis) value of the lived experiences of the poor.” Health communication 32.8 (2017): 954-962.
Glendinning, Emma, et al. “Hunger in a food lover’s paradise: understanding food insecurity in Singapore.” (2018): 1-35.