In theory, the intention is undoubtedly noble. So, when the Communist Party of China last week introduced a draft law to criminalise over-eating and wastage of food, it was doing no more than putting its precepts into policy action, following President- for-life Xi Jinping’s exhortation to the Chinese people: “Waste is shameful and thriftiness is honourable.”
As a result, Operation Empty Plate ~ as the CPC campaign against over-eating and wastage of food is known ~ is now in the process of being enshrined in the statute with the submission of legislation to China’s highest legal committee for its stamp of approval recommending large fines for businesses that enable and/or promote over-eating, over-ordering and wasting food.
The law, once it comes into effect, would allow restaurants, for example, to charge patrons for leaving leftovers. China, essentially, is giving state-sanction to parents’ admonition of children at mealtimes across cultures and over centuries to leave nothing on the plate.
Therein lies a core problem with the new law, however wellmeaning it may be. Because the state as a paternalistic, intrusive, daddy-knows-best construct also means it is all-powerful, non-transparent, and the potential for abuse of authority is built into the system.
Under the draft law, food service operators face penalties if they induce or mislead consumers to “order excessive meals and cause obvious waste”. But critics say the war against over eating and waste is at least in part a cover-up for the food shortage in China. Food imports including of the Chinese staple rice are on the on the rise with India being one of the exporters.
The shortage of pork, another everyday item of consumption, has been well-documented. Corn is in short supply, ditto barley, sorghum and wheat. While animal diseases and floods are said to be the primary causes for these shortages which CPC officials describe as temporary, the statistics are alarming ~ six per cent of annual food production is wasted with 80 per cent of it at the last, food consumption stage.
President Xi was, to that extent, right in stating publicly that the amount of food wasted nationally was “shocking and distressing”. Under Operation Empty Plate, local authorities have already embarked on programmes to reduce waste and encourage food outlets to limit orders to one less dish than the number of diners in a group.
The popular phenomenon of mukbang videos ~ performative eating videos which originated in Korea and often feature excessive binge eating ~ have also been banned. The draft law goes further and stipulates fines for broadcasters ~ radio, TV, or online ~ producing, publishing or disseminating promotion of food waste, including overeating.
Failing to heed a warning from the authorities would lead to the suspension of businesses for “rectification”. On balance and provided misuse of the law is kept to a minimum, the effort to prevent wasting food when millions go hungry not only in China but globally is worth applauding.