Conscious Consumption: Changing Attitudes Towards Food Waste in China
By: Kenneth Chu
Food waste is a global issue that not only affects the environment but also impacts food security for millions of people. In China, a country with a long history of hospitality and serving guests more food than necessary, this problem is particularly acute.
As a tourist visiting Bishan, an ancient village in Anhui province, I had just finished having my first dinner with my classmates. As we were leaving the restaurant, I decided to take one last look at the table.I noticed that at least a quarter of the food had been leftover. I wondered what would happen to all this leftover food.
This got me thinking “Where does all this food go? Does it all go to waste?” Does this have to do with the dining culture here? As an Ecuadorian, with a Chinese background, I noticed the food sharing style was different. In Ecuador, when I went out to eat with my Ecuadorian friends, each one of us got a dish for ourselves without sharing. Whereas with my chinese friends, we would share it around the table.
Waste Along the Supply Chain
Food waste is defined as food that is fit for human consumption, but is lost at any stage of its supply chain. Globally, around one third or 2.5 billion tons of food supplies are wasted each year. This happens simultaneously as 800 million people face food insecurity. Moreover, food waste that ends up in landfills starts decomposing, and producing methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to around 8 percent of human greenhouse gasses emissions annually. (Wong, 2022) If we want a better future, for our future generations, food waste is an important issue that should be addressed.
In China, more than 35 million tons equivalent to 6% of the national food production is wasted. From this, half of this food is wasted at the final stage of production, most of the time food is already at the consumption stage, and it is thrown away consciously. (Wong, 2022)
Chinese Hosting Culture
This is something I have always experienced growing up. One of the factors influencing this is Chinese hosting culture. Traditionally, Chinese culture has always been of serving guests more food. The more food that is leftover after a meal, the more hospitable the host appears. Even growing up in Ecuador, all meals I had with my Chinese relatives were brimming with food. “There should always be more leftover, especially with acquaintances, or during meals in which business is discussed. Said Mr. Pan Wenming, he is a real estate developer based in Guangzhou, and has a farm style restaurant as a side business, in which I have had the chance to eat many times.
But it wasn’t until the trip to Bishan that I realized the impact of this. After coming to China, Bishan was the first time that I had a round table dinner with that many people, and after I started managing my own finances, I was more conscious of food wastage. After a bit of thought, I realized that there is a social implication behind food waste. “Yes, but nowadays, it has improved a lot. 15- 20 years ago, people did not take home the leftovers as they thought they would look too greedy, however the younger generation favors not wasting food, so more and more people are accepting the idea of taking uneaten food home.” This shift of views between older and younger generations has had positive impacts as more people are open to the idea of taking food back home.
Government Playing a Role to Reduce Waste
In the past few years, the Chinese government has been developing policies to reduce food waste and change the culture. This is because there is a deficit on national food production in order to guarantee food security for everyone. Moreover, the number of people doing rural work is declining at a faster rate, as more and more people are moving to urban areas. Shanghai also started the composting program in 2020 in order to offset some of the wastage, in a way that is more sustainable. A few solutions to the food waste problem include an educational campaign “During the 2010’s, the government started a campaign against wasting food, they’d put posters in many places, including in bus stops, and on restaurants encouraging people to not waste food.” Another example of educational campaigns is the “Clean Your Plate” campaign that was introduced in 2020, and has received a great amount of approval from citizens.
Laws were also passed that would punish wasteful behavior. “They demanded that restaurants use some common sense. One example is that if there were 10 customers, the waiter has to only allow 8 dishes max to be ordered, in order to not waste food.” The purpose of these new laws was to help reinforce the campaigns, and also make the citizens more conscious on how they handle food.
I asked a few of my peers what actions they performed in order to not let food go to waste. Some of the responses included ordering just enough food when eating outside, taking leftovers home, and being more conscious of how much food they could really eat. I would like to highlight the importance of not throwing away food. Each and every one of us needs to contribute a small grain into solving this complex problem, be it that we take home uneaten food in restaurants, order what we just need, or sort the waste properly. I am also highlighting that this isn’t only a China problem, it is a worldwide problem. I have seen this problem in most places I have been, and the impact of food waste is more evident in developing countries that struggle in achieving food security.
“[Nowadays] when I am with close friends, or family, I always try to get the right amount of food so there are no leftovers,” Pan reflects on his change. “ Let’s say if there are 8 people, I will tell the chef to bring in six dishes, and if it is not enough, they can make more.”
