World food shortage vs. buffet ?

[rfdrfd]

So, the latest thing on the news these days is how there is a World wide food shortage crisis. I hear this isn't really news and has been going on for a long, long time. Countries shifting from agriculture to only growing certain foods, more being used for developing, growing to power bio-fuels instead of food for eating.

Then, in our society, we have restaurants with BUFFET !

For me, a $6-8 bowl of pho will fill me up, do we really need to go for an All you can eat Japanese meal for $18 ? Or a Korean BBQ buffet for $15? Or a Chinese buffet at Mandarin for $19 ?

As being in Canada, a civilized, educated race, should we get smart and stop having these buffet places, where (most of the time) we waste food that is left over. What happens to the food left over at the end of the night at these buffet places?

We stuff our faces unnecessarily, I doubt many of us need to GAIN weight. Helping the World Wide food shortage get worse and worse.

Thoughts?

[navyseals]

buffet's usually just rip us off.

[budric]

Not going to a buffet, doesn't mean that food will automatically get exported to a starving nation somehow. If people are poor they can't afford to import salmon, tuna, crab or meat from Canada anyway.

We are fortunate to live in a country with stable economy and political system (as opposed to war torn parts of the world). If you want to stuff your face, then pay for it and by all means be my guest. It has absolutely no bearing on world events whatsoever whether you do so or not.

[molala]

how does leftovers from buffet different from ppl's leftovers at a a la carte restaurant or at home? I usually pay $5 for pho and it will fill me up...so I think you prefer more expensive pho. However, I'd like to go to buffet once in a while so I can just have a sample portion of everything rather than ordering different dishes and throw it out at the end.

[M@rk]

Most people don't waste food at buffets because they would supposedly charge you.

[teknoluv]

For me, a $6-8 bowl of pho will fill me up, do we really need to go for an All you can eat Japanese meal for $18 ? Or a Korean BBQ buffet for $15? Or a Chinese buffet at Mandarin for $19 ?
First off, MOST people DON'T eat to just "fill up", not to say that MANY spend more than $6-8 for a meal, and a <$20 buffet is actually a hot deal. But the cruel reality is, whether we (here in Canada, or other rich countries) waste food or not does NOT affect the hunger elsewhere.

[Brian99]

Not going to a buffet, doesn't mean that food will automatically get exported to a starving nation somehow. If people are poor they can't afford to import salmon, tuna, crab or meat from Canada anyway.

We are fortunate to live in a country with stable economy and political system (as opposed to war torn parts of the world). If you want to stuff your face, then pay for it and by all means be my guest. It has absolutely no bearing on world events whatsoever whether you do so or not.

Interesting perspective on an age-old problem! It may not seem that we as individuals contribute to the country's Imports, however the combination of society's demand for larger quantities of food DOES affect 3rd world nations. One of the biggest imported good from India to Canada is coffee beans. Millions of dollars/land of resources are spent producing this instead of trying to sustain growth within the country.

[budric]

Interesting perspective on an age-old problem! It may not seem that we as individuals contribute to the country's Imports, however the combination of society's demand for larger quantities of food DOES affect 3rd world nations. One of the biggest imported good from India to Canada is coffee beans. Millions of dollars/land of resources are spent producing this instead of trying to sustain growth within the country.

And as the OP said more and more land is being used to farm bio fuels. This has nothing to do buffets and wasting food.

The land owners in the countries do that because stuff like coffee etc pays more on the global market because the poor can't pay high prices for food. The government can step in and subsidies farmers, but they are corrupt or just don't feel like it. But again as an individual in Canada we have no impact.

On the flip side, when the buttets close where do all those unemployed people go? Live on the street? How about if we all just survive on a bit of bread and wanter. What about our farm industry that will collapse? Are the poor countries going to buy up our beef?

I just don't understand what this kind of thinking has to do with the real world.

[redwinger]

Interesting topic, one that I have pondered upon recently. As a child, I would love to go to buffets for the variety and quantity but the older I get, the more I appreciate the quality of food. Example: Isn't that chocolate truffle cake that you had in France extra special because of how rare the occasion is, the fresh local ingredients that can not be found elsewhere, or how hard one has to work to obtain it? Would the same cake taste as good if you had it every day? Possibly. Would you enjoy it as much as you did back in France with the same nostalgic or special feeling? Probably not. It's not entirely our fault to want everything because our current environment provides such luxuries at a price that is realistically obtainable.

Those of us who go to buffets, whether or not we agree, are unconsciously driven by greed. Let's face it, how many times do we go to buffets and end up eating WAY more than we need to and consequently, feel the physical and even emotional pain that comes with this kind of behaviour? For those who don't think it's greed, isn't anything in the context of more than we NEED, excessive and therefore greedy. Now since the amount of food "needed" to be consumed varies from person to person, you can't put a discrete number on say, this person ate this amount of X and so forth, thus they are greedy. However, if one feels "bloated", chances are they've simply eaten more than they need. As humans, we all have greed, just to different magnitudes, because in many way it's essential to our survival. However, too much of anything can be detrimental. I think that by truly understanding why we need certain things, we will be able to tone down our desire to want more.

For those who argue that greed is subjective, let's look at the more practical long-term effects associated with over-eating. Not just buffets, but having a prolonged habit of over-eating in general influences a number of significant issues such as weight gain (health), depression (mental), over-consumption (environmental), excessive spending (economical), and wasting of food (moral). The only issue that is debatable in regards to how over-eating directly affects us is moral. As everyone differs in character, values, and beliefs, an argument made for or against moral is irrelevant and indefinite in this case. Even then, there are more factors that contribute to the overall negative impact of over-eating than positives. I remember a few instances at buffets where people were vomitting in the washroom as a result of eating too much. Now as a kid, I felt confused and somewhat disturbed. Now when I look back and think about it, it's actually quite funny that you see these people, whose initial purpose was to satisfy themselves, end up torturing themselves and feeling like s**t (for a lack of a better word) just because they were greedy. I mean what's the point of paying for something for the sake of enjoyment, where the inevitable eventual result is something that you will either regret or be unhappy about. If money is the objective towards your decision to eat at buffets, then isn't it economically more efficient to eat at home in the first place? Now if money is not the object, but variety; since one can not possibly eat everything, isn't it more satisfying to eat somewhere with a small selection of stuff you really enjoy? Ultimately, less is really more.

My philosophy is that the less worries you have, the more happy you are. Think about it, aren't the happiest moments in life the ones when you are care-free. This is not something we can control at all times, however, it's something we can strive for to reduce our worries, thus, living a healthier and happier life. I guess with all of THAT said, my point is (assuming our basic survival needs are already met) aren't we all better off with less (?).

[gh05t]

And to think that not too long ago in our past there were "wine and milk lakes" and "Wheat and butter mountains".

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_v36/ai_3348680

As many have said, Canadian living standards are higher than many countries and anything not consumed at our buffet tables does not necessarily make it to countries without money to pay for it but instead is either "dumped" below cost in some markets or literally dumped in the garbage eventually .

While food supply has continued to dwindle in comparison to demand, Greed has increased exponentially and there is no cooling off in sight as signs of the times come to pass and the masses will be attracted to the Anti Christ through monetary and financial means.(didn't mean to sound like a Bible thumper but it's so true):(

[AudiDude]

. What happens to the food left over at the end of the night at these buffet places?
Thoughts?

Same thing that happens with unsold food at fast food joints, uneaten food at restaurants and the like, it gets thrown out. The only way to fix food shortages in other parts of the world is to buy the people the food. Canadians and Americans eating less food will only put the price higher here as volume drops or the restaurants will have to sell cheaper food (pho) or just close altogether.

Also, other food starved countries are selling their labour and resources to pay for what little they have. I'm sure if you told a person that is involved in a slave labour trade that they are set free because you are boycotting the industry they are in, they'll be real impressed as now they have no job at all.

As far as eating pho all day, most people born here would just lose it. My job, in the winter, requires you to consume a lot of calories as you burn them at a very fast rate in the cold, pho is inconvenient to consume and has no lasting power. I do not sit in a cubicle all day and have limited time to eat, so I'd better eat something fairly fast and hearty. I am not advocating fast food either...

[profguy]

So, the latest thing on the news these days is how there is a World wide food shortage crisis. I hear this isn't really news and has been going on for a long, long time. Countries shifting from agriculture to only growing certain foods, more being used for developing, growing to power bio-fuels instead of food for eating.

Then, in our society, we have restaurants with BUFFET !

For me, a $6-8 bowl of pho will fill me up, do we really need to go for an All you can eat Japanese meal for $18 ? Or a Korean BBQ buffet for $15? Or a Chinese buffet at Mandarin for $19 ?

As being in Canada, a civilized, educated race, should we get smart and stop having these buffet places, where (most of the time) we waste food that is left over. What happens to the food left over at the end of the night at these buffet places?

We stuff our faces unnecessarily, I doubt many of us need to GAIN weight. Helping the World Wide food shortage get worse and worse.

Thoughts?

Nothing wrong with buffets. Buffets offer variety and choice, opportinity to sample other things - doesn't mean for you to stuff yourself silly. Or worst - waste food - take too much or as one RFDer did order a lot of sushi and not eat it (at least they made him pay for the wasted food).

Why would you eat more than you normally would because you are at a buffet - I don't, just wat I like and enough to get full. Most people will argee that overeating at a buffet is not fun nor comfortable and end up regretting it. So don't overeat and you don't have to worry about going to a buffet.

Why single out buffets - what about driving too big a car or living in too big a house - all take resources that can be directed to food production.

[redwinger]

I'm probably going to go off-topic from the original focus of the thread, but there are some things I feel are important and therefore, have an urge to share my opinions with others:


And as the OP said more and more land is being used to farm bio fuels. This has nothing to do buffets and wasting food.

The land owners in the countries do that because stuff like coffee etc pays more on the global market because the poor can't pay high prices for food. The government can step in and subsidies farmers, but they are corrupt or just don't feel like it. But again as an individual in Canada we have no impact.

On the flip side, when the buttets close where do all those unemployed people go? Live on the street? How about if we all just survive on a bit of bread and wanter. What about our farm industry that will collapse? Are the poor countries going to buy up our beef?

I just don't understand what this kind of thinking has to do with the real world.


First of all, don't take it too literally (I'll explain what I mean by that if you care to read till the end of this post). The OP's original intentions may be to raise a concern more than actually linking bio fuels, land usage, and food wastage. Even if that's the intention, there is relevance. I think if you analyze it from a critical point of view, ONE of the main problems right now is over-population. It has created more competition and more consumption, thus creating this chaotic situation of food shortage, fuel shortage, land scarcity, economic turmoil etc etc and so forth. Unless we find a way to A) neutralize population or B) find new methods to regenerate resources (in which case, we would still have to find ways to manage space as the earth only fits so many people), our world is bound to destroy itself. However, chances are by the time we get near the point of destruction, our human survival instincts will naturally kick in and make compromises in order to stay alive. This may require eating less or using less, but again, as humans we will do whatever it takes to survive. Should we always learn it the hard way? Do we have to hit rock bottom to finally realize what we've done wrong?

Now what has ALL that have to do with the real world or, in simpler terms, what the f**k does it have to do with US...OUR reality? As we all live under the same planet, whatever happens on earth will eventually affect us all (just to what degree). In terms of food shortage, this is a major issue, therefore something we should pay more attention to. As inhabitants in Canada, we are offered the opportunity to see, feel, and enjoy things in life that people elsewhere may never even have the chance to know about. Yes, this is the reality we face in our lives today, but can we improve or make our world a more sustainable place to live in as a whole? Definitely. How much effort does it take? The effort of millions. How much time? Maybe 10 years, 100 years, possibly more. How bad do we want it? Questionable. If EVERYONE thought that these issues are irrelevant, and neglect them because of it, the situation will only worsen. Perhaps we won't feel it in our lifetimes, but surely future generations will suffer as a result. As individuals we truly don't have much of an impact, but as a group we have the power to change. If we care about this world, as it is essential to our survival, I think we will have to eventually make some sacrifices.


Nothing wrong with buffets. Buffets offer variety and choice, opportinity to sample other things - doesn't mean for you to stuff yourself silly. Or worst - waste food - take too much or as one RFDer did order a lot of sushi and not eat it (at least they made him pay for the wasted food).

Why would you eat more than you normally would because you are at a buffet - I don't, just wat I like and enough to get full. Most people will argee that overeating at a buffet is not fun nor comfortable and end up regretting it. So don't overeat and you don't have to worry about going to a buffet.

Why single out buffets - what about driving too big a car or living in too big a house - all take resources that can be directed to food production.

The thing about having the choice and chance to access variety and not abusing that privilege is a very good point, one that I think you have realized and learned to accept. However, the fact is that the majority of people who do go to buffets don't realize that and as a result, over-eat. Whether it's right/wrong is not important because the concept of right and wrong is based on standards, which is influenced by the majority. Since society is shaped by the people; the popular belief, behaviour, or whatever is what affects our lives the most, thus what matters most. In this case, since buffets are one of the culprits that contribute to food wastage and the culture of excessive-eating (major issues at the moment that affects the world), it should be brought to our attention.

Your point about singling out buffets; again I don't think it was the OP's conscious intention to do so, but rather point out a concern or flaw in our society. I was really tempted to go in depth about our general abuse of all resources in my first post, but I was afraid to go off topic as the thread is about "food shortage vs. buffets". Knowing that some people will point out the fact that I'm straying from the focus, I tried to stay on track. In fact, there may already be inconsistencies/contradictions in what I wrote, but that's why we have others to point out our mistakes (so if I'm going off track anywhere, please let me know). Anyways, I did mention that the fundamental problem that lies behind all of this, may be that we are driven by greed, which applies to pretty much anything outside of our basic needs. So the focus I am trying to emphasize is we shouldn't be so greedy. The solution to greed: sacrifice. It's not easy (what is), but it's manageable if we take it one baby step at a time. Understanding why it's not easy is one of the steps. We find sacrifice difficult because anything outside of our comfort zone is unfamiliar territory and a lot of times we associate the unknown with fear. What we fear is usually what we have the hardest time facing and overcoming. The environment in which we were born and raised (a key factor in our beliefs and values) is what we are familiar with, which in turn is our comfort zone, therefore what is "normal" to us. Again, it's not easy, but when you get used to something, it becomes a habit, which ultimately becomes natural. THAT is if you choose to sacrifice. Now if one chooses not to sacrifice, then at least they should not waste. Example 1: should you live in a big house, use it as much as possible, but don't buy another house if you only plan to only live in it for 2 weeks in a year. Example 2: should you own a BMW, don't change to a Mercedes because it's no longer "fashionable"; Change it because it's broken.






To both contributors of this topic: just in case you take it as a personal attack, there was no intention to do so and these are only MY opinions. Do not take it too literally (by definition) or base your views around what I think. If we take definitions literally, we lose our identity. Definitions were made for common understanding, but are not set in stone. Everyone has a different concept of what "love" is, or what "power is", why shouldn't other definitions be as flexible. At the end of the day, if you don't agree with my views, I am in essence, irrelevant. WE ARE IN CONTROL OF OURSELVES. I just feel that if we are born and raised with luxuries and a set of moral values, it is an advantage we can positively utilize to make our world a better place. Contribution doesn't always have to be in the form of money or objects, but also ideas, which at certain times are more valuable. So when you think sacrifice, don't just think it has to be this or that, think "outside the box". This is what I mean by not taking definitions too literally. (By the way, in responding to your posts, I am interpreting what you have written. Now my interpretation may be different than what you actually mean, so correct me if I misunderstood any points)

At the end of the day, the best thing to do is to appreciate what you have been given in life and strive to live for the moment. Since most things in life are uncontrollable, we should focus on what we can control and just let everything fall in place. In my opinion, as long as we don't waste or have the intent to hurt others, everthing is fine. Collectively, over-eating is not just hurting our food supply, but we are also hurting ourselves. We can't control hunger, but we can control greed.

[cheapmeister]

Maybe if we try to eat less food then we could reduce or stop the rising prices? I see it as the same thing with gasoline. Price drops as demand goes down. Lets all go on a diet everyone!;)

[rfdrfd]

I feel that I should live responsibly, especially when I hear that global food shortage is actually pretty bad. The reasoning that what we do here in Canada doesn't necessarily help someone else in other poor countries, so we can waste whatever food, water, air we want just doesn't sit well with me.

I believe, buffet places that are NOT cook to order (like Mandarin) have to continously cook and put fresh food onto their display area. Hence, they will eventually have left overs. Places like Japanese buffet where it is cook to order (when you order) are slightly better, because that un-used piece of steak, salmon, tuna will go back into the fridge for 1 or 2 more days use.

Can Mandarin freeze cooked BBQ duck or cooked Sweet and sour pork for tomorrow's lunch ? Or the next day? I don't think so (or they shouldn't be). Hence, this way, they are wasting more food.

I don't know of too many single people that go to buffets, I usually see large familes or company group lunches/dinners. So instead of going to buffet, they can each order 1 different dish and share it. That would almost achieve the same variety as a buffet. Almost. Which would lead to not wasting food.

The mentality of our country's actions does not help others is what got us into this mess with the environment, global warming, etc. in the first place.


If you are Chinese like me, you will know that after every BIG family dinner, there are guaranteed left overs. Then you end up packing 5, sometimes 10 styrofoam containers of left over foods. Last I checked, these polystyrene containers do not bio-degrade. So, I've actually started bringing 5 large lock'n'lock containers to my Chinese family dinners.

My relatives can laugh at me all their want, but I know that I am doing my part in reducing and reusing (since I can't really recycle). Actually a lot of my relatives commend me for doing this and they support it.


Back to my own topic, if buffet restaurants have less demand or business, less will operate and probably turn back into normal restaurants. Hence, less food is wasted. Means less produce needs to be purchased = less consumption = less imported = more for countries other than Canada.

The argument of loss of jobs, loss of financial income for restaurants, etc. don't convince me one bit. You know why you get these negative effects? Because we DID NOT give a sh*t in how we used our resources and mother Earth in the past (and now). We messed things up by thinking we have unlimited supplies of natural goods. We don't. So we must eventually suffer financially or by our living styles.

You don't seriously think us trying to environmentally friendly in 2008 (vs. 1998) is cheaper do you? Recycled paper costs more, paper bags costs more to make than plastic bags.

[rfdrfd]

Collectively, over-eating is not just hurting our food supply, but we are also hurting ourselves. We can't control hunger, but we can control greed.

Thank u for ur long comment. Well said. Yes, my intent wasn't just to point out one thing (buffet), but just like you said: GREED of society.

It is time to stop thinking only about one self. Because it is catching up to us. Everything is global now: Global warming, Global food shortage.....

[nator86]

i think leftover food from buffets might be sold to farms where they feed pigs.

I know they do this with the vegas casino buffets cause i saw it on "dirty jobs"

[the_fm]

i think leftover food from buffets might be sold to farms where they feed pigs.

I know they do this with the vegas casino buffets cause i saw it on "dirty jobs"

:lol:
i saw that episode too. love that show!

[Natsuiro]

If you really want to help, you should donate to the world food program. They only have a 10% overhead.

Trying to save the world by consuming less won't help the people in developing countries much if at all.

I personally don't care much about raising food prices because being Canadian, I can afford to pay prices that people living in poor countries like Haiti and Egypt cannot. The raising food prices affect me minimally.

I myself am not a nice person so I would love to see first world countries cut all aid money so that people in poorer countries would die off from starvation to a more reasonable population level and be self sufficient rather than reliant on aid money.

Give someone a fish and let them eat for a day. Teach them to fish and let them eat for a lifetime.

[Exas]

If you really want to help, you should donate to the world food program. They only have a 10% overhead.

Trying to save the world by consuming less won't help the people in developing countries much if at all.

I personally don't care much about raising food prices because being Canadian, I can afford to pay prices that people living in poor countries like Haiti and Egypt cannot. The raising food prices affect me minimally.

I myself am not a nice person so I would love to see first world countries cut all aid money so that people in poorer countries would die off from starvation to a more reasonable population level and be self sufficient rather than reliant on aid money.

Give someone a fish and let them eat for a day. Teach them to fish and let them eat for a lifetime.

Good point, it is a fact that international food aid hurts the country's economy more than it helps. It draws about dependence, and keeps the people from buying their own farmed goods.

[teknoluv]

I myself am not a nice person so I would love to see first world countries cut all aid money so that people in poorer countries would die off from starvation to a more reasonable population level and be self sufficient rather than reliant on aid money.

Give someone a fish and let them eat for a day. Teach them to fish and let them eat for a lifetime.
Don't worry, war and famine have already been doing that dirty job for you; HOWEVER, bringing down the population to whatever low level does NOT necessarily mean these third world countries could become self sufficient overnight (or even in DECADES), BECAUSE there simply ain't no fish in a desert!

[gilboman]

So, the latest thing on the news these days is how there is a World wide food shortage crisis. I hear this isn't really news and has been going on for a long, long time. Countries shifting from agriculture to only growing certain foods, more being used for developing, growing to power bio-fuels instead of food for eating.

Then, in our society, we have restaurants with BUFFET !

For me, a $6-8 bowl of pho will fill me up, do we really need to go for an All you can eat Japanese meal for $18 ? Or a Korean BBQ buffet for $15? Or a Chinese buffet at Mandarin for $19 ?

As being in Canada, a civilized, educated race, should we get smart and stop having these buffet places, where (most of the time) we waste food that is left over. What happens to the food left over at the end of the night at these buffet places?

We stuff our faces unnecessarily, I doubt many of us need to GAIN weight. Helping the World Wide food shortage get worse and worse.

Thoughts?

well, here you or anybody else in canada making 50k+ a year while workers in have not nations live in mud huts and eat mud cookies working for 50 cents a day and don't even get clean water to drink. While we flush a few Litres every tiem we just flush the toilet and take showers twice a day or more and etc...

when we live in a 1st world nation like canada, everything will seem wasteful compared to the have not's.

[cheapmeister]

If you really want to help, you should donate to the world food program. They only have a 10% overhead.

Trying to save the world by consuming less won't help the people in developing countries much if at all.

I personally don't care much about raising food prices because being Canadian, I can afford to pay prices that people living in poor countries like Haiti and Egypt cannot. The raising food prices affect me minimally.

I myself am not a nice person so I would love to see first world countries cut all aid money so that people in poorer countries would die off from starvation to a more reasonable population level and be self sufficient rather than reliant on aid money.

Give someone a fish and let them eat for a day. Teach them to fish and let them eat for a lifetime.

Yikes! You scare me! Your name reminds me of the natzi's/natsuiro. I think you will be happy cause it is predicted that global warming will change living patterns, farmland areas, cause floods, droughts, storms, heatwaves etc. These will in turn lower population in foreign countries.

[ahTin1257]

it is not a trend, but it is business.
i personally don't think you should link the food shortage vs buffet.
we wasted alot of food, but we paid for the wasted food. so it is part of our economic growth~
and? why drive a benz while u already have enough money for a corolla?
and donate the rest to the third country? you won't, rite?!

as i said, its just business.
back 10 years ago while there's no buffet.
the food shortage problem was there, and no country will do nth about it.

thats reality.
thats life.

[Muncher]

Birth control and hard work are the answers to global food shortage! Not, not waiting for bags of grain to drop from the sky.

[teknoluv]

Birth control and hard work are the answers to global food shortage!
OF COURSE NOT. No matter how hard they try, the Third World will always be the underdogs; or else, who would be there to be exploited?

[netriones]

This world is not an equal place. It's human nature. The one with power and money consumes most of the resources when the powerless and poor starve to death. Do you know how much energy US alone consumes? We can not change the world but we can change ourself s. Be a frugal person! Buy and eat only what we need, conserve our resources (Not equal to cheap)

[cheapmeister]

maybe other countries should emphasize more use of birth control and provide it free then?

[tet8suo]

Do the restaurants still give leftover food to Second Harvest?
http://www.secondharvest.ca/