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SAUDI-SOCIETY-FOOD-ENVIRONMENT
Saudis resist ‘throwaway’ culture of food waste
RIYADH, Dec 16, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The plate is designed to make a meal look
bigger — a gastronomic illusion and an innovative way to tame Saudi Arabia’s
pervasive throwaway culture which results in colossal food waste.
Across much of the Gulf lavish displays of food are seen as a cultural
totem of generosity and hospitality. But much of it ends up in the trash.
Saudi households typically serve large oval-shaped platters piled high
with rice, a daily staple, but a lot goes to waste as many just nibble on the
sides and rarely even reach the middle.
Entrepreneur Mashal Alkharashi is fighting back — with a rice plate that
makes the portion of food appear bigger.
With a mound in the centre, the plate minimises the middle area, prompting
people to serve less and save more.
“The innovative design, elevated from the middle, reduces waste by 30
percent,” Alkharashi told AFP, adding that the plate, adopted in recent years
by multiple Saudi restaurants, has saved more than 3,000 tons of rice.
“This way we preserve the generosity part while cutting waste.”
The desert kingdom — which because of its limited arable land and scarce
water resources is heavily reliant on imports to meet its growing food demand
— has the highest rate of waste globally.
The average Saudi wastes up to 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of food
annually, compared to a global average of 115 kg, according to the ministry
of environment, water and agriculture.
The ministry estimates the waste costs Saudi Arabia, which is scrambling
to boost state coffers amid low oil prices, around $13 billion annually.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the consumption is far
higher than the official estimate: it says the average Saudi wastes as much
as 427 kg every year, underscoring what observers call a throwaway consumer
culture that undervalues food.
“Since food items and groceries are abundantly available to all living in
(Saudi Arabia) and they are highly subsidised, the residents take food for
granted,” academics from Riyadh’s King Saud University wrote in a research
report last year.
“Food waste in restaurants, celebrations, social events is enormous …
(as) the custom is to provide more food than required.”
– ‘Freedom to eat’ –
The Saudi Food Bank, or Etaam, a charity which collects surplus food from
hotels and wedding halls and distributes it to the needy, has called on the
government to penalise waste.
In Saudi Arabia, where vast oil reserves reaped enormous wealth in a few
dizzying decades, food is not simply a source of nutrition but also an
expression of cultural identity.
In a traditional society where social interactions often revolve around
food, enormous displays of it connote affluence.
“In just one generation Saudi Arabia went from conditions of scarcity to
plenty and, for some, immense wealth,” Kristin Diwan, from the Arab Gulf
States Institute in Washington, told AFP.
“It’s easy to see then how this rather austere culture would project its
wealth into the socially acceptable area of hospitality and food.”
Many Saudis are shrugging off stereotypes of being gluttons in a country
where local media says more than 40 percent of the population is obese.
A recent newspaper cartoon portrayed a single man hunched over a sumptuous
spread of steaming food and asking a woman donning a kitchen apron: “Is this
all?”
“The only real freedom we have in an absolute monarchy is the freedom to
eat,” a Saudi academic told AFP, declining to be named.
“For a long time, the only entertainment for Saudis was restaurants and
food.” – ‘Shop, eat, pray’ –
“Shop, eat and pray” was long the motto for many Saudis in an age of high
oil prices which long supported the government’s cradle-to-grave subsidies.
But many are rethinking their lifestyles amid rising economic pressures as
the conservative kingdom pares back subsidies but also opens up once-
unthinkable outlets for entertainment such as cinemas and concerts.
Environmentalists say Saudi Arabia’s high demand for meat fuels wildfires
in the Amazon rainforests, which make way for livestock. The kingdom is one
of the biggest importers of Brazilian beef.
Many young Saudis are shunning a culture of excess to promote minimalism
and meatless diets, among them the chef Almaha Aldossari, well known on
social media as “The Bedouin Vegan”.
Waste, however, is a relic of the oil boom era, limited not just to food.
It is common to see car engines idling for hours, a habit that stems from an
era when oil was cheaper than water.
Water, too, is wasted even as the arid kingdom faces declining resources.
Saudi Arabia consumes 263 litres of water per capita per day, double the
daily world average, and the government aims to reduce it to 150 litres by
2030.
“Cultural change is hard but concerns about environmentalism,
sustainability, and more healthy living amongst a certain class of Saudis
will have some impact,” said Diwan.
“These are the seeds of change.
BSS/AFP/RY/09:35 hrs