Hello! Welcome to Roundtable, where we serve up piping hot debates on the issues that sizzle in China and beyond.
I'm Yuhong Lin. Ever thought about what's in your fridge right now?
Something delicious or… a science experiment?
With food waste becoming a major global issue, World Food Day challenges us to rethink how we consume and value food.
Today, we're going to dive into the facts and maybe some questionable habits about how we can waste less, eat better and create a more sustainable food system.
For this episode, I am joined by Yushun and Steve Hatherly.
Now, grab your virtual compass and follow us to the heart of the discussion.
Food is more than just fuel, especially in China.
It's tradition, culture and connection.
But it's also a global challenge.
October 16th is World Food Day and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has designated this year's global theme as Right to Foods for a Better Life and a Better Future.
I think food is so important for everybody, especially here in China because we have the saying of traditional Chinese saying, mian yi shu wei tien.
Human regard food as one of the top priorities, as a necessity.
It's something really deeply rooted in especially Chinese culture.
Since I can think that almost all of our traditional festivals have a designated food and the designated food can even differ regarding to or according to which specific area you live.
So I was wondering about your personal attitudes on food.
What kind of food consumer are you when it comes to cooking, eating, ordering, everything?
What kind of how important is food to you, Yushun?
You know, actually, I, me personally, I don't think I am a very picky.
Eater because but on the contrary, my friends are all like seven words into your statement and there's already a but.
Yeah, my friends, I was trying to say my friends are always calling me food snob, picky, and they always say I have a high standard on food.
I think the reason is that I it is hard for me to think the food is good.
But what the reason why I say I am not picky is that I can have one dish for so many times for even the whole for a long time.
So it's hard for you to find a dish that you really, really, really, really like.
But when you do find that dish, you can eat it again and again and again and again and never get sick of it.
Yeah, it sounds like a strange question, isn't it?
How do you feel about food?
But it's definitely a fair question.
You know, some people really love food.
Some people don't really don't really care about food at all.
I have a friend from Australia and he told me once and I thought this was interesting.
He said I would rather be hungry.
The feeling of hungry, I would rather be a little hungry than feeling super, super full.
Feeling full makes me feel really uncomfortable.
And he told me he doesn't really care about what he has for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
If he misses a meal, he doesn't really care.
So people have different attitudes about food.
For me, I absolutely love food.
I love different flavor combinations.
For me, Mexican, Indian, Korean and Chinese are my favorite foods in the world.
There's so many flavor combinations in there.
So I'm a big, big fan.
And I do care about what I have for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Sometimes I waste so much time just wondering, what should I eat?
Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling what to have?
Staring at the open refrigerator, what should I eat in there?
I also spend too much time thinking about what to eat when it comes to cooking or especially ordering food because I have a bad habit and please do not copy this.
I order too much. I would order definitely more than I can finish for the meal, which is why I always order once and have it for the entire day.
You divide the one order over three different meals.
Exactly. So that for me, that's sometimes even cheaper.
It's also cheaper. And sometimes you can put the ingredient, fresh ingredient, like a cucumber.
You cut it into just slice into different pieces and put it back into the sauce that you had just had for the previous meal, since you like the taste of the sauce.
I'm doing it. Only I myself is doing it.
So it's not gross. But my point here is that that is my way of eating.
And if you have noticed this already, when we're talking about our attitudes towards food, we are mainly talking about the flavor, the taste, the type of cuisine.
One thing that is missing in this discussion is whether or not we're eating healthy, because it is also something that's actually quite important and that is going to be part of our discussion today.
Actually, according to FAO, food is the third most basic human need after air and water.
And everyone should have the right to access sufficient food.
Around 733 million people are facing hunger in the world due to repeated weather shocks, conflicts, economic downturns, inequality, and also the just finished pandemic.
So the issue is still quite serious.
And that is why on the World Food Day, we want to take a look at the food situation around the world.
Yeah, farmers are producing.
This is a kind of a thing that's not easy to understand because farmers around the world are producing enough food for people to eat.
There's enough, but it just goes wasted so much of the time that, as you mentioned, 733 million people are facing hunger and that's just a strict injustice and it's a problem that needs to be solved.
And that's why we have things like World Food Day.
Yes. And that's why I think this year's theme, the right to foods for a better life and better future is spotlights.
The importance of diversity, also nutrition, affordability, accessibility, as well as the safety and sustainability of foods.
You know, it is trying to raise awareness about how a greater diversity of nutritious foods should be available in our fuels or fish and gnats markets and our tables for the benefit of all.
Yes. So let's do a quick fact check.
When we talk about we have still so many people facing the food, facing the reality of not having sufficient food or not eating healthy enough, exactly what are we talking about?
So I think when we're talking about the situation right now, over 2 .8 billion people in the world are unable to afford a healthy diet.
And that number is according to the official website of FAO.
And think about it.
That's almost twice the population of China.
Unhealthy diets are the leading cause of all forms of malnutrition or undernutrition.
On micronutrition, deficiencies and obesity, which now exist in most countries and cutting across socioeconomic classes.
But today, you know, too many people, they're suffering from hunger and are unable to afford healthy diets.
And that is, I think, an issue and why we are talking about it.
The you know, the situation and the unhealthy situation of people are not having enough and nutritious food.
Yeah. Enough food or enough nutritious food.
That's a great point because vulnerable, vulnerable people, they're often forced to rely on for their meal, staple foods or even less expensive foods that can be unhealthy.
It's unfortunate, but it's often the case that the healthier the food is, the more expensive it is, the more we have to pay for it.
It doesn't seem fair at all.
Others, they suffer from the unavailability of fresh or different foods.
They also lack the information that they need to choose a healthy diet, which is important as well.
I think we take that for granted a lot of the time that we have access to information that tells us eat this, don't eat this.
It's good for your body.
It's bad for your body.
A lot of people don't have access to that information or others.
They simply opt for convenience, the convenience of of unhealthy foods.
This is where on that subject, actually I want to give a little bit of additional information, that is China's National Health Commission has released the four new dietary guidelines for 2024 and encouraging residents to adjust their daily diets based on the recommendations provided.
And the guidelines are guidelines for managing.
There are four different guidelines talking about different situations, people facing situations.
For example, if you're an adult and you have the problem of obesity or your children and adolescents having problem of obesity or people with chronic kidney problems, so different type of situations, different food recommended.
I think this is also quite important for people to have that, like Steve has just said, knowledge or access to healthy diet, healthy food.
But that when we're talking about that, actually another side of the coin, another side of the story is that food waste remains a serious issue.
Yeah. And preventing food waste.
You know, we always think about when we think about the environment, we hear about government policies and these grand steps that are being taken.
But we as individuals often wonder, well, what can I really do to help the environment?
If I take this little tiny micro step, is that really going to make a difference?
Maybe sometimes that feeling is justified.
But when we talk about food waste, it's one of the easiest and most powerful actions that people like you and I can take to lower our carbon footprints.
Wasting less food, it has a lot of positive effects.
It reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
It conserves natural resources.
Reducing food waste also saves money, which leads me to believe, oh, if we can save money, then everybody's going to take steps to reduce their food waste.
But yet still the problem exists.
It exists here in China.
It exists in Canada.
It exists all over the world.
Food waste is a major issue and it needs to be solved.
Yeah. And that's why I think we're talking about the food waste, because, as you said, actually, farmers, they are actually producing enough food for people all around the globe.
But why? There are still people in hunger.
That's because it is wasted.
So food waste remains a very serious issue.
Recently, the European Union reported that in 2022, the EU generated a total of 59 .2 million tons of food waste, with each person wasting over 132 kilograms of food on average.
And let's see how much is that 59 .2 million tons.
So a person eats an average of two kilograms of food per day and the 59 .2 million tons of food waste would be enough to provide a full year's worth of food for about 81 million people.
It's like the size of a country.
Yes, that's a population even almost to Germany, because Germany's population is about 84 million.
So that is so much waste that if people are.
Of course, people are having the awareness of saving food, but I think it is still in a situation that we're not doing enough.
Well, it's complicated.
And when we hear numbers like that, you know, 59 .2 million tons of food wasted every year, according to that European report.
It's hard for us to take a statistic.
Well, yeah, because it's hard for us to take a statistic like that and then apply it to our own lives.
What does that mean?
Maybe this statistic will help.
Of the 59 .2 million tons of food wasted, and this is from Eurostat, household waste accounts for 54 percent of that.
Now, that when I hear that, that hits a little bit closer to home for me, because I think, oh my goodness, 59 .2 million tons of food waste.
OK, that's a lot. I know.
But wait, half of that comes from food wasted within our homes.
That means definitely I can do something that can make a difference.
And if collectively we can think about this, put it on the forefront of our mind, then we can really all make a difference together.
Yes. And we are actually making a difference by employing, by developing and also applying a lot of different strategies and different policies.
I remember when I was a kid, I hear the stories of some fast food chains pouring milk into water or destroying or throwing away perfectly good food because it's expired because the expiring date is only one day.
They only sell fresh off the stove kind of food.
And that was the kind of story that was, you know, a little kind of it's a little bit controversial, but mainly it was praised for the high food quality standard these fast food chains hold.
But apparently that is no longer the case for today's people.
We are more and more aware of the fact that food safety and food waste is more important, an issue that needs to be addressed today.
That is why now a lot of different convenience stores, as well as these fast food chains, they started to give different ways to deal with or to make use of these quote unquote expired food.
They're only expired for two minutes.
How bad can they can they go?
Yeah. Labeling is one of the problems with food waste.
As a matter of fact, best or use by date, you'll see this product in English.
I'm not sure how it's written in Chinese, but you'll see it written as use by date or best by date.
And those are our best before date.
And those are completely different meanings.
Use by you have to eat it by that by that date.
But best before people take that label to mean if I eat this 12 hours after that time or after that one day after that day, this is going to give me food poisoning.
I'll go to the hospital.
Yeah, exactly. And we're not sitting here trying to encourage you to eat two -week old hot dogs like I did in university.
But we are saying, you know, give it a sniff test and test it before you throw it away.
That's where a lot of food waste comes from.
That's what we as individuals can do.
But actually, many entrepreneurs here in China have associated the expired date on time as the what with actually the price of the food.
And they will say to people that you're buying this close to expired date food and we're giving you a 50 percent off at the price.
So if you feel like you can consume it in the following, for example, two weeks or sometimes even for the kind of food that has really long expired date, then 50 percent of the date actually means that you can still consume it within the next half year, which means it's not that bad.
And everybody's happy.
The producer, the consumer as well as the platform benefiting from this strategy and making it a business model can also benefit.
So I think that is one thing definitely worth continue to try in developing.
Yeah, I think that is how people are labeling these because, as Steve said, most of these products, they are labeling as best expired date.
But actually, some of them are actually best taste date because before that you may have the best taste.
But after that, maybe not as good as the fresh one, but they're still edible.
So that's why these kind of near expiry food stores are getting more and more popular in China.
And also more and more people would like to accept the fact that, OK, they are cheap, they are discounted and they can get basically the same quality of that.
Yes. And on top of that, we also see, for example, leftover lunch boxes.
You remember that we talked about it on a roundtable.
Call it unsold not left over.
No, no, no, we're making jokes about the leftover part.
They're not someone's leftover.
They're just unsold like you should have said.
So these are certain initiatives we see from the, let's say, shop owner side or the entrepreneur side.
Actually, nationally, the country has been advocating for no wasting food anymore campaign for quite a long time.
And there are specific rules and regulations asking restaurant owners, shop owners to you at least to have the responsibility of reminding consumers that if they're ordering too much, if they are wasting too much, it is the responsibility of the restaurant owners to remind them of that and to prevent
that from happening too much.
I think grocery store owners, too, are trying to do their part.
I was on a website called FeedingAmerica .org and I learned something there.
It's called food rescue.
Have you heard that term before?
Rescuing food. Yeah, food rescue is it's an organization or Feeding America is the organization and food rescue is the term that they use to describe their most powerful weapon in the fight against food waste.
They say they work side by side with donors like grocery stores, like farmers and like restaurants and working together.
They find perfectly good food that's nearing its best sell by date.
That would be from a grocery store.
Has cosmetic imperfections like a potato that doesn't look like the perfect potato or the perfect carrot.
Customers don't want to buy those.
They don't want to buy ugly vegetables, so they end up going unsold.
So they work together to take those and things that just didn't sell as well.
They take that food and they donate it to places like soup kitchens or people who are in need of it.
So when you're ordering here in China, have you ever encountered the situation that the waiter told you that?
No, you're ordering too much.
Stop ordering. You cannot finish all this.
Oh, yeah, totally. Oh, really?
I was having food in a restaurant in Guangdong Province in Xundu.
That's a city that is well known for its food and Dallas is everywhere.
It's well known for its food if you're in China.
But there is a specialty that is goose in that town.
So we ordered a whole goose for two people, two of us because it's their specialty, clearly.
But the the waiter guy, he was like laughing at you, mocking you, not only laughing at us, but also like keep reminding us that it is too many for you.
You cannot consume all of them.
And he was so eagerly reminding us that go get some friends to come and eat with you.
You cannot finish all of them or maybe you can cause some strangers to eat with you.
You guys can get one table and share it.
But of course, we had to take it with us after we cannot finish it.
He was right. He was right.
Yes. But I was thinking, OK, he was just being very nice.
But maybe with the policy there, he was just fulfilling his duty to remind us as customers.
Yes. I remember around 15 years ago, even longer than that, when you order, people would encourage you to order more.
But nowadays, definitely in Chinese restaurants, people will tell you this is enough for all of you.
If you want more, you can eat a little bit and see whether or not you need more.
And also, they would recommend a smaller dish.
They would definitely remind you to take away the leftovers when you finish.
So these are also all in line with China's anti -food waste law.
So restaurants are actually required to do so.
Oh, they're required to to give you that message.
Yes. If you are really wasting too much and they are also required to have a posted on their wall telling you, do not waste food.
Oh, that's a really good thing.
I'm not sure how that message would be taken in Canada or America if your server was telling you, I don't think you should be eating all that.
I'd be taken the wrong way.
There's plenty of things that we can do.
And it's kind of reminding me of when we talk about plastics and what type of reductions we can make, what types of steps we can take.
And some of them hit home and some of them don't.
And if you search on the Internet, you can find many, many lists of step one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten that you can take to reduce your amount of food waste.
I found one. I won't go through the whole list.
I'm just going to highlight the one that was my favorite from the list.
It was respect food, respect that it was grown.
The ingredients were grown by a farmer somewhere.
There was time. There was effort put into that.
Respect the fact that there's a shipping process.
Respect the fact that during that shipping process, that's part of the carbon footprint.
There's waste that happens at every step of the food production process all the way to the restaurants and the stores, even before it gets to us.
Sometimes food is wasted there as well.
If you can respect that entire process, when you look at your vegetables or you look at your meats or you look at whatever it is that you're about to consume and you actively respect the process, that they say will help you in your decisions about how much food you buy.
They say only buy what you need.
Don't buy things because you think you're going to eat it and then you end up throwing it away.
It can help with all of those things.
That really hit home for me, respecting the food and where it came from.
I think that's going to help me a lot.
Also, it can be creative when it comes to the so -called leftovers.
Sometimes they can be reinvented into some new creative dish and that method is actually being applied in a lot of places here in China, a lot of company contains.
They're trying to make sure during the cooking process they waste as less food as possible.
Another thing is that China passed the anti -food waste law on April 29th, 2021.
This law defines food waste, sets responsibilities for institutions and also as the fourth country globally to legally now manage this issue.
Actually, China, Chinese people actually, well, we respect food, like we said at the very beginning of the show.
Also, if you live in Beijing or Tianjin, actually you are encouraged even to report violations via the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 hotline if you're seeing excessive food waste.
At the end of the day, it's the responsibility of us all, not just one single person.
So today's discussion reminds us that food security is about more than just filling the plates.
It's about dignity, equality and sustainability.
