Ms He Ting Ru asked the Minister for Social and Family Development in relation to the soft launch of the FoodConnect directory and database (a) how many households are currently signed up to it; (b) how many community groups are currently registered with the database; and (c) how is the success of the initiative to be measured.
Answer
The Charity Food Workgroup (CFWG) soft launched the FoodConnect Directory and Database in February 2022. The FoodConnect Directory is the first consolidated charity food directory in Singapore, and enables social service agencies and families in need to search for food support organisations by location and dietary requirements. This way, families can be better matched to food support that best meets their needs. There are currently 25 organisations listed on the Directory, including seven new organisations which were onboarded after the soft launch.
2 The FoodConnect Database is a system that enables participating food charities, local food coordinators and social service agencies to have a consolidated view of the food support received by households. This enables them to make informed decisions on coordinating or right-siting food support. The Database currently contains food support data for around 500 households served by four food support organisations. Another 14 organisations have expressed interest in onboarding the Database.
3 The FoodConnect systems are the building blocks for a more data-driven and collaborative charity food sector, where beneficiaries can receive the right type and amount of food support, and food support organisations can optimise their resources. As FoodConnect has only been recently launched, we will over time track the number of organisations and groups that onboard and utilise these systems so that on net, there is less duplicative support and food wastage.