Why Ram Vilas Paswan's idea to regularise food portions in restaurants has completely missed the plot

Earlier this week, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan suggested that restaurants specify portion sizes of a meal to enable customers order the right amount to reduce food wastage. He later said that he wanted to regularise food portions.

Paswan had even called a meeting with food industry representatives to discuss standardisation of how much food could be served, and even suggested that restaurant owners fill out a questionnaire for the same.

In his March Mann Ki Baat speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while speaking of food wastage, hailed individuals who had used technology to distribute leftover food to those in need. "They have created mobile apps. And when people call them about there being leftover food anywhere, they collect it and put it to good use. The lives of these people can inspire us not to waste food. We should take only as much as we can eat," he said.

Food wastage in India

While Paswan believes that curbing restaurant portions will help food wastage, the problem in fact is much larger. Government data shows India wastes 67 million tonnes of food every year. That number is greater than the national output of nations such as Great Britain.

The value of the food lost – Rs 92,000 crore – is nearly two-thirds of what it costs the government to feed 600 million poor Indians with subsidised ration under the National Food Security programme.

Furthermore, a United Nations report says that more than 230 cubic kilometers of fresh water, enough to provide drinking water to 10 crore people a year, goes into producing food items that are ultimately wasted.

Why is food wasted?

A 2014 World Economic Forum report says that there are several reasons why so much perishable food is lost. "This includes the absence of modern food distribution chains, too few cold-storage centers and refrigerated trucks, poor transportation facilities, erratic electricity supply, and the lack of incentives to invest in the sector," the report says.

Corroborating the lack of cold storage, a study by the Indian Institute of Management-Kolkata estimates that cold-storage facilities are available for only 10% of perishable food products, leaving around 370 million tons of perishable products at risk.

Restaurants aren’t the problem

Speaking to DNA, Kuldip Nar, who represents Responsenet, the parent group of Delhi Food Bank, an NGO that feeds 15,000 people across ten cities in India every day, says that the bigger problem India faces when it comes to food wastage is from farm to plate. “In his speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on the importance of technology in delivering food and preventing food wastage, which is something I agree with. It doesn’t make sense targeting or regulating restaurants,” he said.

Nar added that as part of the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals, one of the aims was to reduce global per capita food wastage by half by 2030, and the need was to focus on state-of-the-art technology in storing, transporting and handling to prevent food waste from farm to plate.

Mumbai’s Dishant Sheth, whose Giving Monks initiative ensures street children in the city’s Lokhandwala area are fed, says that some restaurants distribute food to the poor, so while the minister is entitled to his opinion, there is a bigger need to be addressed, he said.

According to Ankit Kawatra, the founder of Feeding India, an NGO that collects excess food to distribute to the needy, food from restaurants accounts for almost 55% of all the food donated. "This amounts to a total value of Rs. 4,40,000 daily," he said.

Restaurateur speak

The Hotels and restaurants body HRAWI today described as "highly impractical" the government's proposal to fix portion sizes of dishes although the thought behind the concept is noble.

"Although the thought behind this concept is noble and we appreciate it but to implement this idea is highly impractical," HRAWI president Dilip Datwani said in a statement.

On the implications of such a move on hotels and restaurants, he said: "It essentially would mean that hoteliers will now have to customise dishes or portions of a dish to individual appetites."

If the suggested move does come into effect, pricing would most certainly be affected, making eating out more expensive for the consumer, Datwani added.

Speaking to DNA, Aditi Kamat, who runs several restaurants in Mumbai said that the rule to regulate portions would not make sense, primarily because it would result in losses for restauranters. "I can understand if someone wants a full portion or a half portion of something, but asking for specific portions doubles the work and could create chaos in the kitchen," she said.

Kamat added that since her restaurants prepare fresh food for every meal, leftover food, including desserts, are distributed to the homeless near the restaurant or are taken home by staff members. "Furthermore, what will people do when they go to a restaurant that serves an unlimited buffet or thali? There is more food wasted there than an a la carte menu," she added.

Support for Paswan

While restaurateurs have been critical of Paswan's statement, organisations that distribute food have praised his suggestions. Bengaluru-based Akshaya Patra said, “In a country of huge population and diverse economic status, food is one of the greatest challenges. Akshaya Patra is in line with the concept of not wasting food. Hence, we support government in in this initiative to avoid food wastage.”

Kawatra, too, added that Feeding India supported the government move, even if it was a small start to reducing food wastage.

What are the solutions?

While countries have found their own way to tackle food wastage (France has ensured supermarkets give out perishable food to the homeless), India’s problem is a lot trickier because of its population.

In 2014, Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal recommended that agriculture credit should also relate to food processing sector as the ultimate beneficiary is the farmer.

She also emphasised that the utmost focus should be on reducing wastage of the three main vegetables -- onions, tomatoes and potato as they are driving inflation. Talking about the challenges the industry faces, the Minister said, "The biggest challenge the industry faces is power, without which the cold chain cannot be successful. States need to invest in renewable energy and provide solar energy at subsidised rates."

While speaking to DNA, Kawatra added that the Prime Minister's Mann Ki Baat speech showed that the government was seriously thinking about food wastage, which has been a global problem. Whether or not we reduce wastage can only be seen over time.