Dad pushes for food waste management in Cebu City

Councilor Alvin Dizon is pushing for a proposed ordinance to reduce food wastes through food donation and recycling. | CDN file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Restaurants in Cebu City would soon have a way to deal with its food wastes while helping the city’s less privileged citizens and the farmers in the mountain barangays.

Cebu City Councilor Alvin Dizon has proposed an ordinance to reduce food waste through food donation and recycling, which aims to engage restaurants and food establishments in the city into donating their excess food.

“Food is wasted at all parts of the supply chains: at the agricultural level, while it is being handled and stored, while it is being processed, when it arrives at the grocery stores and after it is purchased by consumers,” he said.

The proposed ordinance would require food establishments to segregate  their excess food into two categories: the edibles and inedibles.

The edible food surplus are food that are still fit for human consumptions based on the standard of the City Nutrition Council (CNC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and other pertinent laws and administrative regulations.

For safety reasons, this excludes milk-based products, because milk easily spoils, the proposed ordinance said.

The edible food surplus can be taken to a food bank, accredited by the Department of Social Welfare and Services, that would process the edible food and feed it to the less privileged through nutrition programs.

The inedible food surplus, or  food that can no longer be consumed by humans, will be made into composts upon donation by the food establishment.

Once the ordinance is passed, all food establishments will have to submit a quarterly report on the amount of food waste they produced, and they will be required to enter into agreements with food banks to deal with the food.

If the establishments comply with the ordinance, they will be given tax breaks on garbage collection by the city government.

Furthermore, the barangays will be required to hold campaigns to educate their residents on food waste management.

The proposed ordinance is still being reviewed by the committee on laws.

A barbecue house owner in Barangay Pardo, Cebu City, who refused to be named, said he would gladly welcome the ordinance because they can help the poor while being relieved from having to dispose of food wastes.

“Maynta lang lagi nga sila (city government) mukuha sa pagkaon kay if kami pa, gasto na pud kaayo. (I hope the city government will take the food waste from us because if we have to deliver it ourselves to the food bank, it will be an additional expense),” he said. /elb