Food Waste in Japan (Jyoti & Caryl)

What makes food waste a “green” issue?

Finish your food.
Your grandma spent a lot of effort making this.
You don’t realise how lucky you are – Other children in Africa are starving right now.

 

Growing up, food waste was a problem of bad manners and poverty stemming from imbalances in the global food supply system.

When viewed from an environmental perspective, food waste is a problem because it perpetuates global warming, threatens biodiversity and squanders away finite natural resources (FAO 2013). When food matter ends up in landfills, the lack of oxygen in the environment causes it to decompose anaerobically, which generates large amounts of the greenhouse gas, methane. 

Mottainai! What a Waste! Japan staves off the worst of ‘food waste culture’

We examined a news article published on the official website of the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), which details efforts by various parties in mitigating the problem of food waste in Japan. We learn that while Japan consumes an average of 6.2 million tonnes of food each year, its businesses and households waste around 3.4 and 2.8 million tonnes of edible food, respectively.

The article mainly argues that there is widespread understanding about the problems, and moral and economic implications of wasting food in Japan – exemplified in the concept of “mottainai!” or “what a waste!”, which is employed in various institutions in Japan, including schools, with reference to the issue of food waste.

We learn that the FAO has been running a programme in Japan to sensitise youth, the general public, and the private sector on reducing food waste, and this has been done mostly in conjunction with local and national government administrations. The head of the Liason Office, Boliko, is interviewed in this article. He talks about how although the Japanese awareness of food waste helps their mission, people still tend to overbuy food at restaurants. He also mentions how people are unwilling to eat food past the “best before” date, even though it is safe for consumption.

The large amount of food waste produced by Japan is still low compared to other developed countries. According to the article, this is indicative of how food culture (along with how food industries are structured) in Japan has “a respect for natural resources, the environment and the food it yields.” Another interviewed FAO staff, Okabe, argues that this is because of the food insecurity faced immediately after WWII and that these attitudes have been passed on to the following generations.

The article also briefly mentions Japanese municipal efforts to change the narrative surrounding food waste and campaigns to mitigate waste production and reduce the negative economic cost of disposing it.

 

Portrayals of Japan

This article views Japanese attitudes towards wastage and the environment in general in a very positive light.

The article glorifies the meaning of the Japanese expression “itadakimasu”, defining it as “I receive” (which is technically true) then labels it a “sharp contrast” to the expression “bon appetit” (lit. “good appetite”). We find this is indicative of how the writers perceive attitudes towards the environment as being influenced by culture – culture that is not dynamic but unchanging through the times. The problem is that readers may take for granted that the meanings imbued within the fixed expression of “itadakimasu” can either increase or decrease in saliency for Japanese people, in response to the social and economic conditions of the times. It smooths over the (in)famous period of Japan’s economic miracle where high-speed economic growth was coupled with high levels of (conspicuous) consumption. Kirby (2011, 172) alludes to this period where he mentions that frugality became unpopular.

The article also glorifies the concept of “mottainai”; it is described as “an expression of the displeasure of having food and other resources thrown out”. Such an interpretation reminded us of Nihonjinron as this need not necessarily be a purely Japanese school of thought. According to MOTTAINAI, a foundation started by the Asahi Shimbun and Itochu, the term was adopted by Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai as a slogan for protection of the environment; apparently it encompassed the 3Rs of reduce, reuse, and recycle, along with the idea of “respect” for the earth’s resources.

 

What’s missing from the discussion?

The article also mentions how present-day attitudes towards food waste are linked to Japan’s history of food insecurity in the aftermath of WWII. Kirby (2011, 169) reinforces this by showing how the state played a key role in framing frugality as economic nationalism. We note that contemporary struggles with food security frames Japan’s efforts in fighting food loss and waste today, as Japan is heavily dependent on overseas resources for satisfying domestic food demand (Marra 2013).  

The article acknowledges individual (mis)perceptions contribute to food wasting behaviours but does not discuss systemic issues within the food chain. Retailers like supermarkets tend to order more food than is required from wholesalers and suppliers, to ensure that they will not run out of stock (METI Mobile). Retailers also adopt strict aesthetic standards for products, causing a trickle-down effect where farmers discard or leave ‘ugly’ produce unharvested because they will fetch a lower price (Japan Times, 2013). That is not to say that no initiatives are being adopted – you can take a look at how the Japanese government’s Food Industry Affairs Bureau plans to tackle industry-level food waste here: http://www.maff.go.jp/e/policies/env/attach/pdf/index-5.pdf

(867 words)


References

Kirby, Peter Wynn (2011). Troubled Natures: Waste, Environment, Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.

Marra, Federica (2013). Fighting Food Loss and Food Waste in Japan Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/save-food/PDF/FFLFW_in_Japan.pdf (accessed 8 October 2018).

Reports

Food Wastage Footprint Impacts on Natural Resources – Summary Report (2013). Retrieved from Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Website: http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3347e/i3347e.pdf (accessed 8 October 2018).

Reducing Food Loss and Waste & Promoting Recycling: “MOTTAINAI” for Foods Once Again (2017). Retrieved from Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishieries (MAFF) Website: http://www.maff.go.jp/e/policies/env/attach/pdf/index-5.pdf (accessed 8 October 2018).

News Articles

An appalling waste of food (2013). Japan Times, 21 January. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/01/21/editorials/an-appalling-waste-of-food/ (accessed 4 October 2018).

Mottainai! What a Waste! Japan staves off the worst of ‘food waste culture’ (2017). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 11 September. http://www.fao.org/save-food/news-and-multimedia/news/news-details/en/c/1036297/ (accessed 4 October 2018).

The Environmental Impact of Food Waste (2015). Move For Hunger, 11 May. https://www.moveforhunger.org/the-environmental-impact-of-food-waste/ (accessed 8 October 2018).

Websites

6.42 million tons per year! – food loss and waste in Japan. Retrieved from METI Mobile Website: http://www.meti.go.jp/english/mobile/2015/20151021001.html (accessed 8 October 2018)

MOTTAINAIについて. Retrieved from MOTTAINAI Website: http://www.mottainai.info/jp/about/ (accessed 8 October 2018).

“mottainai”. (2009). Retrieved from https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/honyaku/YEdy1-u7iVY