China launches Clean Plate Campaign – Burning Issues – Free PDF

• The “Clean Plate Campaign” comes after Mr Xi highlighted that Covid19 had “sounded the alarm” on food waste. He added that China had to “maintain a sense of crisis about food security”.

N-1 SYSTEM

•  Following Mr Xi’s message, the Wuhan Catering Industry Association urged restaurants in the city to limit the number of dishes served to diners – implementing a system where groups must order one dish less than the number of diners. So under this system dubbed “N-1”, a group of 10 people can only order 9 dishes.

EMPTY PLATES ARE SOMETIMES SEEN AS A SIGN OF A BAD HOST

•  But it’s likely the system will take time to get adjusting to, in a country where it is seen as polite to order more than the amount needed.
• The “N-1” idea faced some criticism online, with some pointing out that it was “too rigid”.

MUKBANG

Chinese state agency CCTV also called out livestreamers who typically film themselves eating large amounts of food. Known commonly as “Mukbang” – such livestreams are popular in many parts of Asia including China.

• According to CCTV, some of these livestreamers throw up afterwards as they are unable to digest the large amounts of food eaten.
• In response, leading video platforms such as Douyin — the China version of TikTok — have pledged to strengthen content reviews and remove videos and block accounts that promote extravagance and waste, Shanghai-based state media the Paper reported.
•  In July 2019, the city of Shanghai – the largest and most populous in the world – introduced strict regulations forcing individuals and companies to correctly recycle their food waste.
• Citizens faced fines as punishment for not complying, or penalties to their social credit rating – a controversial system affecting economic and social prospects.

CHINA LAUNCHED AN ANTI FOOD WASTE CAMPAIGN IN 2013 AS WELL

•  In 2013, the “Operation Empty Plate” campaign was launched – though that targeted extravagant feasts and reception held by officials, rather than putting the onus on the public .

• weeks of mass flooding across southern China which left farms wrecked and ruined tons of produce.

Second Reason:

• Covid-19 and US China Relations (rising security costs) Third Reason: Obesity: China is also facing a growing obesity problem. In 2016, the country overtook the US to have the greatest number of obese people in the world. One of many negative impacts of the now-abolished one child policy – longer studying and working hours, as well as bad eating habits, have  China’s Labour market has shrunk.àfueled weight gains.————

HELP THE WORLD

•  According to WWF China, around 17 to 18 million tonnes of food went to waste in China in 2015. The amount of food China wastes is enough to feed 30 to 50 million people annually. President Xi is portraying the “clean waste campaign” as a move to help the international community during the pandemic, but in reality China has for years had ambitions to cut the waste generated by its 1.4bn citizens.

PUBLIC RESPONSE

•  “What if one person goes to a restaurant alone? How many dishes can he order? Zero?” Others said that most restaurant diners did not normally waste much food, pointing instead to extravagant banquets thrown by officials.

BACKLASH BY PEOPLE

•  Customers going into the popular Hunan chain Chuiyan Fried Beef, in the city of Changsha, were asked to weigh themselves on a set of scales and provide personal information. The restaurant would then suggest menu items based on their physique.
• The guide recommended customers order different dishes based on the person’s weight and the calorie content of the food. For example, women weighing less than 40 kilograms (88 pounds) were recommended the chain’s signature beef dish and a fish head, while men weighing more than 80 kilograms (175 pounds) were recommended dishes including braised pork belly.
•  The move invited angry reactions among customers who accused the restaurant of ‘fat-shaming’.

Latest Burning Issues | Free PDF

Sharing is caring!