Where is the effort needed to curb food waste?

　　Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 10 -

　　Xinhua News Agency reporters Lu Chang, Guan Guifeng, Tian Chenxu

　　A few days ago, many places and departments have issued initiatives calling for saving and resisting waste in catering.

The reporter visited a few days ago and found that at present, most consumers can consciously order on-demand and non-waste in the process of catering consumption, but catering waste still exists to varying degrees, especially in business banquets.

What is the difficulty in curbing food waste, and how will we further strengthen supervision and guidance in the future?

The reporter conducted an interview and investigation.

Food waste still exists to varying degrees

　　The reporter recently visited a number of restaurants with different prices and found that many restaurants have returned to the pre-epidemic passenger flow, but in a lively scene, waste has occurred from time to time.

　　In a buffet restaurant in Beijing's Chongwenmen business district with an average per capita of more than 100 yuan, each table has a reminder that "the leftovers exceed 100g, and an additional cost of 30 yuan".

The reporter saw that most consumers take meals on demand, and there is not much leftover on the table when they leave, but a small number of consumers waste food to varying degrees.

Due to the high popularity of the restaurant, no matter how much food is left, the service staff will quickly "turn over the table" so that the ranked guests can quickly sit down.

During the nearly one-hour meal time, three or four tables were wasted more seriously, but the staff did not ask for additional charges.

　　At a restaurant in the Xuanwumen business district, when ordering food, the waiter would kindly remind you, "If you have enough food, you don't want enough."

However, after the meal was over, there were two or three tables in the restaurant where there was waste, especially staple food wasting more serious, because it was lunch, almost no guests chose to take away the leftovers.

　　During the interview, the reporter found that some restaurants introduced "small portions", "half portions" and "one-person food" from the perspective of reducing waste, but only for take-out platforms and limited varieties of dishes; some restaurants still charge high total prices Private room cost based on the sum of per capita consumption.

Some consumers say that because of the private room fee, they will blindly order more dishes, and ultimately cause waste.

　　From the actual situation, at present, the waste of catering consumption for family and friends gatherings is not obvious, while the consumption of catering mainly for business banquets is relatively wasteful.

"Although public funds have been effectively curbed in recent years, some meals have turned to be paid by enterprises. As long as they can be reimbursed, it is difficult to reduce waste to a certain extent." said "Xu Xiake," the initiator of "CD Action".

Talking about ostentation, unconsciousness, "not bad money" causing chronic illnesses that are difficult to treat

　　The reporter's investigation found that food waste is largely related to the people's long-term catering consumption concepts, living habits, and the overall operating level of catering companies.

　　——Business banquet talks about ostentation causing waste.

Ms. Wang, an employee of a certain company, said that business banquets are especially prestigious and classy. The average per capita consumption is between 300 and 500 yuan, and the slightly high-end bureaus can reach 1,000 to 2,000 yuan.

"If the cup and plate are empty after a meal, it will make the guest of honor appear to be'saving face', so the dishes are too much, which causes a great waste." Ms. Wang said that once when a customer was invited to dinner, there were three remaining meals. Second, "It is not convenient to arrange packaging for business occasions, and waste is wasted."

　　——Different levels of catering companies have shortcomings.

The reporter noticed that some small and medium-sized restaurants lack scientific management and the quality of the dishes is limited, causing waste.

He Baogui, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing Food and Beverage Industry Association, said that at some tables, a whole dish was left untouched. It may be that the chef’s level is not good. Some restaurants blindly innovate and cook fusion dishes. They have everything but the taste is not good. Consumers can't finish eating specialty dishes and unique dishes, and even if they pack them back, they won't eat them. This becomes a waste in the next step.

　　——Waste if you don’t make it or eat it if you order it.

During the interview, the reporter found that middle-aged and elderly people generally have a higher awareness of saving, while young people are not. They are "insensitive" to price and quantity in catering consumption, often "purchasing on impulse" ingredients are stored in the refrigerator, and because of the fast pace of life, there is no time. Cooking has caused a lot of waste in family links.

"Daily work is very hard, and I feel that I can't treat myself badly in terms of food. Although I live alone, I often order two dishes and a staple food, and I will be full after eating half of it. I dare not eat the leftovers after too long. Said a "post-90s" Internet practitioner who often orders takeaways.

Strengthen legislation and keep an eye on the key points

　　Liu Jingjing, general manager of Beijing Jiahe Yipin Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., believes that food waste should be controlled from two aspects: legislation and publicity and education.

"Strengthen the legal notice, allow rectification for non-subjective and deliberate violations, avoid direct fines, and strengthen inspections of restaurants."

　　At present, the Ministry of Commerce and relevant departments are stepping up efforts to study and formulate laws and regulations to stop food waste, improve the rules of food conservation, research and formulate policies and measures to reward savings and punish waste, and establish a long-term mechanism to stop food waste.

　　Respondents also pointed out that the legal provisions should be more specific and disciplinary and accountability should be strengthened. Extravagant and wasteful behaviors should be discovered and investigated together to establish a rigid binding force for the system and effectively eliminate the "broken window effect" in the field of catering waste.

　　He Baogui believes that catering companies should not mechanically and one-sidedly understand the call to "save food and prevent waste", and should not "scrape hot spots" and engage in formalism, but should pay attention to it in thought and be solid in action.