Wasted Food in America vs. Japan
I saw a report that said Americans throw away an average of 27% of available food, an unfortunate reality in a world where not everyone has enough to eat. Being a prosperous nation, Japan has a similar problem, with a large amount of perfectly good food being disposed of instead of eaten, dispite the loud protests of members of the generation that grew up immediately after World War II, when the country knew real starvation. There are various reasons for this waste, such as unsold food being disposed of in supermarkets and convenience stores at the end of the day, food being tossed due to the expiration dates having passed, or food being left behind in a restaurant by patrons. (There's no custom of taking home a "doggie bag" in Japan and most Japanese would be horrified at the thought of asking for one.) Still, there's a big difference in the potion sizes between Japan and the U.S. with the average plate of food here probably about 25-30% smaller than in the States, and it's surprising how easy it is for foreigners living here to get used to this. Among the benefits of these smaller portions are by ability to be satisfied ordering a "child's" ice cream or frozen yogurt when visiting the States, since the size is just right.
My whole family would be happy sharing something this huge:
posted by Peter in Japan at 8:15 PM
4 Comments:
Ah, I forgot to write about how parents make kids eat up, telling them there are 88 gods in each grain of rice who will get angry if they don't finish every grain.
11:38 PM
This is one of the differences between Japan and other Asian countries. When I lived in Korea, you were not supposed to finish the rice. If you did, you were signaling that the host/restaurant did not provide enough food for you.
3:33 AM
To add to this, there was just an article in the Washington Post about how Japan has trade obligations with certain other countries, like america and Thailand, where they buy a certain amount of rice every year, and instead of selling it or whatnot, Japan actually keeps it in air-conditioned storehouses till it's unfit to eat. Then they feed it to livestock or are now starting to turn it into ethanol, and with the permission of the countries selling it to them, they could give it to other nations as aid. They already do give about 25,000 tons a year away according to the article. It's here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/18/AR2008051801897.html if anyone would like to give it a read.
4:59 AM
Yes, give it to other countries, I am all for that. I remember a few years ago they had a plan of taking the excess rice and turning it into products, since you can make a bowl or a cup out of rice.
9:41 AM
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