The France Macau Chamber of Commerce’s (FMCC) 14th Annual Charity Gala Dinner, themed “Paris Extravaganza”, is slated to be held on September 15 at MGM MACAU, with FMCC this year supporting the Society of Food & Environmental Health’s* flagship project “Leave No Food Behind”.
Details of this year’s gala dinner, which also marks FMCC’s 15th anniversary, were presented during a press conference at MGM MACAU yesterday, with the supported project centring on upcycling food trimmings and off-shelf vegetables into healthy pet food by applying various food technologies and food safety experiences.
FMCC Chairman Rutger Verschuren said in his speech that his chamber aimed to donate 50,000 patacas, which they hoped to exceed. Moreover, this year will see the inaugural prize-giving of “The FMCC Macau ESG Awards”, which recognises outstanding contributions in the areas of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) within Macau, with the winners from its three categories (Best Project, Best SME, Best NGO) to be announced during the dinner.
Tackling food waste
Society of Food & Environmental Health (SFEH) founder and Chairman Ruby O (柯學明) noted during a presentation at the press conference that the association focuses on food as when people want to reduce the carbon footprint, or go green, they first think about aspects such as energy and transportation, but food, which actually has a “very strong lever” when promoting human health and sustainability, is often neglected.
Food waste is also a global crisis that is becoming more serious and is both an environmental and ethical issue, she said, and for Macau, it is organic waste that has been the largest solid waste contributor for three consecutive years and its recycling rate is very low.
Speaking with The Macau Post Daily after the press conference, O said that she thought that the issue in Macau is related to food-waste sorting. She added that if food-waste sorting in the daily practices of various stakeholders such as households, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), integrated resorts (IRs), among others, is not taken seriously, the total solid waste will remain high.
O emphasised the importance of understanding that “food waste is not waste until we waste it”, pointing out that it is organic matter that, when properly treated, can be turned into something valuable such as compost. “If you segregate and properly ferment it [food waste], it can totally go back to the soil and nurture another lifeform”, a process that she referred to as a “circular economy”, as waste can be a raw material for another process, life or product.
Proper sorting, O emphasised, will help regenerate new materials and reduce the city’s total solid waste amount, as well as raise people’s awareness.
According to O, her association hopes to further advocate and share practices for people to reduce food waste, as well as to change the stigmas that there may be regarding it through different activities.
*According to a statement provided during the press conference, the group, which was established in April 2020, “brings together all professionals from the food and environmental health industries, explores industrial and academia collaboration that promote innovation practices and product developments, serving as a supportive role to enhance communication and collaboration on the implementation and development of policies and regulatory requirements”.
France Macau Chamber of Commerce’s (FMCC) Chairman Rutger Verschuren (left) and Society of Food & Environmental Health (Macao) founder and Chairman Ruby O (柯學明) shake hands after the signing ceremony on the sidelines of yesterday’s press conference at MGM MACAU.
