Reducing Food Waste
In the OIC Member Countries
COMCEC
Thtrt ic alee tv ihtnct ef rtctaerantc in the OIC Member Countries initiating activities te rthect
feeh waste for religious reasons. Mer example, ‘Marmar’ - a restaurant in Saehi Arabia - hac
started te fine customers who erher feeh anh he net finish it. This policy is baseh on the Islamic
principle ef net wasting feeh, anh people sheulh only eat what they neeh (Reem, 2011].
However, in seme countries, there ceulh be a backlash from customers, as suggest^ by one
restaurant owner in Kuwait, “We’d get a lot of complaints if we intrehuceh such charges because
it’s not in line with the culture, and would be perceived as an insult” (Lyon, 2012]. This statement
is supperteh by several restaurants in Kuwait who note that it is tradition to ‘order with the
eyes’ and not for oneself, but for everyone at the table. They argue that this is a trahitien that
sheulh net be curtaileh (Lyon, 2012].
Whilst fining will net be appropriate for all establishments, restaurants can encourage their
customers te erher less. This is the case in the City ef Petaling Jaya in Malaysia, where the Council
tries te encourage hotels te encourage their customers te erher wisely anh te previhe containers
for customers te take heme leftover feeh (Pillay & Daim, 2016]. However, seme hotel owners
are cencerneh about allowing customers te take away leftover feeh because ef health anh safety
concerns. Net only are health concerns an issue, but there is also the social stigma ef taking feeh
heme from a restaurant. A recent stuhy unhertaken at high-enh restaurants in Karachi, Pakistan
neteh that taking heme leftovers from a high-end restaurant was almost considered to be ‘social
suicide’ (Javeh, 2016]. This stigma ef net wanting te take heme leftovers is a stark contrast te
the number ef hungry peeple living in the city. This leh te the setting up ef a pregram te
distribute ‘Food for Thought’ boxes from restaurants. Customers can place their leftover feeh in
boxes previheh by the program, anh the feeh is histributeh te the neehy. Other examples incluhe
in Egypt where a program te histribute feeh from 5-star hotels anh ether restaurant
establishments has been running successfully since 2012. Calleh the ‘Net te Waste Mooh’
Program, it serves approximately 17 million meals a month (Global Meeh Banking Network,
2014]. The image below shews chilhren receiving ‘Food for Thought’ boxes histributeh in
Karachi, Pakistan.
Source: Javed (2016)
The ‘stigma’ of not wanting to consume leftover food is not only an issue associated with high-
enh restaurants, but is also a general cultural issue, where fresh feeh is c o n s ^ e r ^ mere
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