KUALA LUMPUR – The all-you-can-eat buffet has been a weight watcher’s worst nightmare for the longest time and now Mother Nature’s too, due to excessive food waste that is left behind every night, especially during Ramadan.
While concurring that such buffets are taking a toll, environmentalists have called on restaurant owners and hotels to adopt more responsible practices in handling food surpluses, to give the environment a break.
Speaking to The Vibes, environmentalist Aidi Abdullah said the carbon footprint of each meal is huge, because “better hotels” source exotic ingredients from all over the world to create unique dishes that give them an edge to win over customers.
Buffets are an environmental disaster, as any wastage is, not including packaging waste. All the food thrown out goes into plastic bags as well. So, there is already an increase in waste.”
According to a 2016 report published by the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Corporation, 200,000 tonnes of food went straight into rubbish bins every fasting month.
Previously, Consumers’ Association of Penang president Mohideen Abdul Kader had urged Muslims to stop the practice of breaking fast at hotel buffets as it raises concerns of food wastage.
He added that the culture of breaking fast at buffets has turned what is supposed to be a period of devotion for Muslims into a feast with a 100-dish spread in hotels and restaurants.
Food waste in rubbish bins, Aidi said, breeds bacteria and pests.
He said plastic bags containing food waste not being properly tied would “open Pandora’s box of potential diseases”.
He estimated that Muslims may waste at least 20% of food at buffets.
“The plates of food they take would make Mount Kilimanjaro look like a pimple. They will eat about half of it and dump the rest.
Do we learn humility and a sense of community? Do we realise that there are many who can barely afford a proper meal, let alone a buffet spread?”
Waste Management Association of Malaysia council member Mohamed Siraj Abdul Razack shared Aidi’s sentiments.
Siraj said it is undeniable that excessive food waste due to lavish iftar buffets has significant environmental effects such as methane production from the anaerobic process of decomposition.
Landfill leachate is one of the sources of groundwater pollution and we don’t have many sanitary landfills in Malaysia at the moment. I think there are only six of them, while the rest are normal dumpsites.
“However, landfills are not the final solution to this problem.”
He added that the ultimate solution is to set up waste-to-energy facilities in the country as soon as possible.
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The former chief executive officer of Alam Flora Sdn Bhd also urged buffet providers to preserve leftover foods and distribute to the needy, in a bid to reduce food wastage during this holy month.
“If they can arrange with old folks’ homes and orphanages, whereby they preserve the food and deliver to them, that would be a better way of handling the extra food.
“They can also take it as an environmental, social and corporate governance initiative or a corporate social responsibility programme,” he told The Vibes.
Siraj is of the view that iftar buffet caterers ought to emulate vendors as well as supermarkets in European countries, where they have a system in place for overripe or bruised fruits and vegetables to be sent to those who are less fortunate.
Incur food waste fee
Siraj also suggested buffet operators charge customers who leave food uneaten on their plates.
In Singapore, if the customers do not finish food they take at buffets, business operators weigh the food and charge their patrons a fee.
“There was a case in Germany where the restaurant owners called the police because their foreign diners over-ordered and did not finish their food. The Germans feel that wasting food is a crime.”
Another tip to avoid wasting food, he said, is for the chefs to only prepare the amount of food that is needed, rather than overcooking. – The Vibes, April 16, 2022
