Recess Time

Food waste is one of the biggest waste streams in Singapore and makes up 10 percent of total waste generated. This issue is compounded by the fact that Singapore imports almost 90% of our food.

Recess Time by Practice Tuckshop is an ‘ugly produce’ lunch party at the heart of the Singapore arts district. It is a long-running participatory work that stages a social event, i.e. lunch, as the site for performance and engagement. Serving up over 2,000 meals over four years, this programme combines the art of cooking, making conversations, and storytelling into a single encounter. 

Invited home cooks and professional chefs, known as “Makan Masters”, go on veggie rescue missions in their local communities to salvage unwanted or ugly produce. They then incorporate the rescued produce in a 3-course menu of their choosing.

Recess Time conversations are also documented using an auto-ethnographic approach by a floating interviewer, known as the ‘Kaypoh’ (Busybody) Queen/King. Stories from the participants are then recorded inside the Recess Time Journal, which also contain messages from past chefs, photos and food-waste friendly recipes.