Singapore focuses on challenges of the global food system

Institution’s Singapore Branch plays key role in November events focused on improving the sustainability of the global food system.

November 29^th saw the main events take place in the joint IMechE and Forum for the Future project focused on finding the world’s leading innovations in cold chain technology, packaging, ICT and supply chain structure that have real potential to achieve scalable food loss reductions in Asia-Pacific (APAC).  A select invited group of key supply chain players from the region gathered in Singapore for a morning workshop with the objective of identifying the principal food loss ‘hotspots’ in APAC food supply chains and to match them with innovations from the over 100 solutions submitted to the project’s global solutions mapping exercise. Dr Tim Fox, Chair of the IMechE Food and Drink Engineering Committee and the Institution’s lead on the project, was accompanied at the workshop by Singapore Branch’s John Sears, and together they raised the profile of the Institution’s work in this important area for regional food security and sustainability. Later that day both Tim and John also participated in the project’s innovative networking event that bought industry players, government departments, academics and NGOs together for an informal dialogue and an exploration of what more sustainable food supply chains might look like by 2025.

To add further to the discussion on the sustainability of global food supply chains, and broaden the debate, Singapore Branch took advantage of Dr Fox’s visit to organise a technical talk at the Newcastle University Campus on the Nanyang Polytechnic site. Chaired by local Branch Chair Yeap Boon Hooi, and hosted by Newcastle University academics, Tim’s talk considered the 21^st Century energy challenge of the food-water-energy nexus. Against a background of population increase, global urbanisation and growing affluence in developing economies, Dr Fox outlined the scale of the energy challenge in the global food system and considered wide ranging opportunities for changes towards more sustainable approaches, including food wastage reduction, changes to dietary aspirations, alternative sources of protein and accessing and utilising clean energy options.

Dr Tim Fox receiving a token of appreciation from Boon Hooi Yeap, the Singapore Branch Chair, with the other committee members of the Singapore Branch

The joint IMechE – Forum for the Future APAC food loss reduction project reaches a conclusion at the end of the year and we will be providing a full round up of the key findings and outcomes from the work in our January edition of World Bulletin.