Japan Loves wasting food?

[Sinestra]

I found this article shocking when i read it in the Japan Times. I find this quite odd given the culture of the Japanese that im sure we are all aware of. I myself was complimented several times in Japan for finishing whatever i was given. I didnt think anything of it because thats how i was raised to finish your food and dont eat too much that you so full that you cant finish your plate it was common courtesy in my household growing up and i still follow it today.

Could someone help me out on this and provide any first hand experience they might have had in regards to the article im just finding then numbers really hard to believe.

"23 million tons of food was discarded in 2007, about ¥11 trillion worth, which is the monetary equivalent of Japan's annual agricultural output. Moreover, it cost ¥2 trillion to process that waste"

Japan loves wasting food | The Japan Times Online


Thanks

[burkhartdesu]

Well... I'm too lazy to read that whole article, but why do they waste so much?


I thought 7-Eleven in Japan had superb quality, so maybe it's quality control waste?

[MMM]

Again, The Japan Times Online releases a very misleading article.

Japan Loves Wasting Food

Just look at the title, then the content.
It isn't about "Japan" but one company, and "loves" is a subjective term. No one claimed to enjoy wasting and "wasting" itself is also questionable if the food is being recycled into feed or fertilizer.

[Jaydelart]

Originally Posted by MMM

Again, The Japan Times Online releases a very misleading article.

Japan Loves Wasting Food

Just look at the title, then the content.
It isn't about "Japan" but one company, and "loves" is a subjective term. No one claimed to enjoy wasting and "wasting" itself is also questionable if the food is being recycled into feed or fertilizer.

Typical manupilative language from the media.
It irks me to read everytime...

[Sinestra]

Originally Posted by MMM

Again, The Japan Times Online releases a very misleading article.

Japan Loves Wasting Food

Just look at the title, then the content.
It isn't about "Japan" but one company, and "loves" is a subjective term. No one claimed to enjoy wasting and "wasting" itself is also questionable if the food is being recycled into feed or fertilizer.

Thanks MMM this why i asked the article seemed very wrong from many perspectives and felt misleading just reading it. If you dont know ask thanks man gotta love the media.

[Nyororin]

For as long as I`ve known, convenience stores simply do not sell food at a discount. This was the rule back when my husband was working at one 10 years ago even. It`s not something new, and it`s not something limited to 7/11. Back then the reasoning was that convenience stores should not be stepping into the niche taken by regular grocery stores - as people (read employees in many cases) would avoid buying food until it hit discount time.

If the government wants to complain about food being wasted, they should take a really good look at their price manipulation of fresh produce. Leaving tons of cabbage out to simply rot when people wanted to buy - making an artificial shortage in an effort to raise prices is far worse in my book.

[Sinestra]

So basically places didnt want to lose profit because lots of people would wait till the items were marked down before buying them? Convient stores dont do it because its stepping into the same pound as the grocery stores. Their solution was to create an illusion of an artifical shortage on some items forcing people to buy when the price was high at a fixed rate. Is this basically it?

It sounds similar to some price fixing here in the US i find it at least twice a week when i go into a grocery store to buy something thats marked down but the words are written to be misleading and when you get to the counter thats when your hit with the full price and length discussion about why you cant get the discount. They hope that you will get annoyed and just buy it out of frustation since you need the item.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by Sinestra

So basically places didnt want to lose profit because lots of people would wait till the items were marked down before buying them? Convient stores dont do it because its stepping into the same pound as the grocery stores.

I don`t know whether that had anything to do with wider policy - it was just what the store manager at that one particular store said. When they had, in the past, offered discounted food - there was an issue with people putting food in the back in order to hopefully buy it when discounted... Which in turn created an issue of the stores not detecting food that was very close to expiring. That reflects back on the store, so they simply did not do the discounting and the problem was solved.

Their solution was to create an illusion of an artifical shortage on some items forcing people to buy when the price was high at a fixed rate. Is this basically it?

I don`t know the entire reasoning for the government`s actions, but I imagine that is the case - buy up so much of a crop and then request that it be left as is and not sold... Or haul it to the local JA and let them dispose of it.

It sounds similar to some price fixing here in the US i find it at least twice a week when i go into a grocery store to buy something thats marked down but the words are written to be misleading and when you get to the counter thats when your hit with the full price and length discussion about why you cant get the discount. They hope that you will get annoyed and just buy it out of frustation since you need the item.

That doesn`t sound similar at all to me. That is just misleading advertising.

I was talking about two completely different cases. One, the actions of convenience stores - and two, produce price fixing by the government. They`re not connected... I was just saying that if the government wants to complain about some company wasting food, they need to take a good look at their own price fixing actions.

[nobora]

thats not good . I eat all lthe food on my plate cuz if I dont I get in trouble but still thats alot of food!!

[YukisUke]

Originally Posted by nobora

thats not good . I eat all lthe food on my plate cuz if I dont I get in trouble but still thats alot of food!!

If i don't finish the food that's on my plate, I simply wrap up the leftover food for a light lunch the next day or so. BTW, that article was certainly an eye-opener. I did not know this about Japan.