Worldchefs, together with Electrolux Malaysia partners with AIESEC Malaysia to launch “Clean Our Plate”
“Clean our plate” is a series of food waste awareness education workshops targeting young students in Malaysia.
Recognizing the importance of educating future generations about the pressing food waste issue, last year Worldchefs, together with Electrolux Malaysia, forged a partnership with AIESEC, a global platform for young people, to extend its reach to a younger audience.
With support from Electrolux Food Foundation, which was established in 2016 to help employees take action on global challenges such as food waste, hunger and poor nutrition, Worldchefs and Electrolux Malaysia worked with AIESEC’s international volunteers to organise food waste awareness education workshops called Clean Our Plate at four secondary schools in Putrajaya, Malaysia from early July to mid-August, 2018.
As part of the Worldchefs and Electrolux community initiative #MYHappyPlate, which aims to raise public awareness of food waste, the workshops introduced various food-related topics to 800 participating students, such as five stages of food loss, food waste recycling, and held a cooking demonstration on leftover food.
Reflecting on her experience, Nadia Safira, an AIESEC volunteer said, “During the workshops, I shared how my family would go to sleep on an empty stomach for days since we couldn’t afford to buy food. It’s not until you’ve gone to bed hungry that you realize how precious food is. After my sharing, one of the students stood up and shared how guilty he felt about all the food he had thrown away.”
To help sustain and amplify the impact of the program among their peers, 40 students were also trained and mentored by the organizing team and teachers, to run their own food waste prevention programs in schools.
In a post-project survey conducted by AIESEC, 15% of the workshop participants showed improvement in their understanding of the food waste issue and how to tackle it on an individual level. One of the participating schools also reported a 58% decrease in the amount of food waste after the project ended.
Mr. Koh Soh Hoie, General Manager, Electrolux Malaysia and Brunei said, “I believe we need to educate and encourage our younger generation to be more thoughtful of the less fortunate, and to educate them on the impact of food waste on our society and environment. Together with AIESEC, our aim is to reach out to more young people and encourage them to in turn, educate and help their families plan better meals, and avoid waste at home and in school.”
#ThisIsWorldchefs #FeedthePlanet #YesWeCan
