Time.news – In its fight against food waste, China has decided that gargantuan banquets become a crime. The Asian giant – the world’s largest importer of food products which, however, has not forgotten the famine which, in the 1960s, claimed tens of millions of victims – has been launching the fight against food waste.
It was the president himself, Xi Jinping, who last August urged his compatriots to be more frugal and more careful in managing resources. In fact, in some environments it is customary to organize gargantuan banquets by ordering more than the guests can eat. It is clearly a sign of economic availability but the result is that, according to official data, the catering industry, in urban areas alone, wastes nearly 18 million tons of food every year.
Now the Chinese parliament has voted on a text that makes food waste a crime; the law also opens up the possibility for catering services to charge their customers in case of waste. On the contrary, the state broadcaster CCTV said, those who finish their bowl correctly can be “rewarded” (it is not clear how) while restaurateurs who encourage to order in excess risk a fine of up to 10,000 yuan (1,274 euros, more than the average monthly salary).
The text also heavily sanctions videos of food orgies, which are very popular online, where people compete for who eats the most. The coronavirus pandemic and severe floods in recent months have raised food prices; and this, combined with Xi’s words, raised the issue of food safety and the risk of possible shortages.
As in the heyday of Maoism, however, Xi’s words were enough to trigger a plethora of more or less effective initiatives: a restaurant in Changsha even invited customers to weigh themselves before ordering a menu adapted to their weight (or overweight…).
.