Waste Not, Want Not

China launched its 'Clean Plates Campaign' 2.0 in August 2020 (the first was in 2013), and told all its residents and citizens to well, clean their plates and not waste food. State media, catering companies, restaurants and even legislature have all rushed to enforce the President's directive. 

President Xi Jin Ping had always advocated policies of thriftiness and bans extravagant state banquets, private dinners between officials and the public. The Chinese government "seeks to fortify a fragile food supply strained by floods, epidemics, locusts and trade wars." President Xi cited a poem by Tang poet Li Shen, and implored the Chinese to “know that each grain on your plate comes from the labor of peasants.” 「习近平一直高度重视粮食安全和提倡“厉行节约、反对浪费”的社会风尚，多次强调要制止餐饮浪费行为。」

“锄禾日当午，汗滴禾下土，谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦。” 《悯农二首》，李绅（772—846年）

Titled 'China’s mealtime appeal amid food supply worries: Don’t take more than you can eat', Eva Dou's piece in The Washington Post published on 5 October 2020 draws our attention to what's really happening in China too. A country this vast, and it's indeed a headache to feed. If the people are hungry, there will be discontent and there will be political turmoil. 

In China, the two foods in the tightest spots are pork and corn, with the nation’s pigs hit hard by African swine fever and much of the year’s corn crop ruined by floods. But fresh foods of all stripes are in short supply, too, due to the coronavirus pandemic and flooding — from eggs, to seafood, to leafy green vegetables.

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Over the past couple decades, the implicit bargain offered by Chinese leaders has been unprecedented economic advancement and opportunities in exchange for political quiescence. That means the ability for regular folk to eat meat regularly instead of as a luxury, as well as having a range of nutritious foods within reach.

When Xi assumed office in 2012, one of his flagship policies was to eradicate extreme poverty from China by this year. Local officials across the nation have worked to meet this target for years until the pandemic threw a wrench in these plans.

It isn't just about food wastage habits this year. It's really about food shortage, and I'll opine, the short-sightedness of the incumbent US government on its foreign trade policies. If this is a game to score domestic political points, it's not getting funnier. At this juncture, Singapore isn't feeling the total pinch of rising prices. Not fully, anyway. And we're hugely guilty of food wastage. All developed nations are. 

We don't grow anything enough to feed all of Singapore. We import our food and we don't just worry about pork or corn. We worry just about every food item. Staples, carbs, greens and such. Look at how fast bread, flour and rice disappeared off our shelves in April and May. This country cannot survive a real food crisis. China's worries mirror our own, and the rest of the world's. 

I write about food on this blog. I think about food all the time. I like reading about food, and stories behind a dish. There's such pleasure derived from eating well and eating in moderation. Never to the point of indigestion though. Gotta be careful about that. Good food brings comfort not just to the stomach, but to a weary soul. I don't necessarily talk abut food all the time although it's part of the discussion when we meet friends. We talk about what to eat, and that usually decides where we go. It's the social thing to do. We're lucky to have choices of different cuisines at our doorstep. 

I'm keenly aware that our food supply lines can be broken any time, and if that's kept open, we need to admit that our political leaders and government have been working hard to do so. Hunger, and to be at the brink of starvation, these are not situations or feelings that I'm not familiar with, because of the privilege of growing up in Singapore. I daren't even say I empathize because I can't. I'm looking at our unemployment figures rise. Every ripple on this island ties in with the economy. And that has everything to do with the future survival of this little island nation. 

Meanwhile, I buy groceries in moderation, stocking what I need, and paring down the fridge and freezer to basics. (I also live in fear that the freezer breaks down and all the frozen food will go to waste.) When I eat out, I order in moderation. Under-eating isn't going to reduce me to a sad state of hunger. We can all do with a bit of reduction in fats and overall body weight. I always feel that city folks eat too much. Two meals a day are more than enough for me, and many others.