Big fat Indian weddings are all about looking your best, dancing your heart out, and of course, eating lots and lots of food. Some people aim to at least taste everything offered in the buffet, while others vow to focus only on the exotic dishes. From butter chicken and matar pulao to lip-smacking gol gappas and aloo tikki, there is no dearth of food options at Indian wedding ceremonies. While we try to make the most of such occasions, the amount of food that gets wasted at weddings often go unnoticed.
We all have come across guests blatantly dumping plates loaded with food in bins at wedding functions. Highlighting this rampant issue of food waste, Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Awanish Sharan recently shared a post on Twitter.
In the picture, a table is seen with a number of used food plates, bowls, and bottles lying on it. The plates, which seem to have been discarded, are still having plenty of food left on them while the bowls are also filled with sweets. “Such people should be debarred from attending any function,” the caption read.
The post kicked off a discussion on food waste. Some Twitter users offered solutions to solve the problem.
“There is a serious need for "Indian Weddings Food Activists" or something on that line where activists can visit every wedding/function host and educate them on the importance of food and how to minimise food wastage at the same time maintaining the honour of being a great host,” a user wrote.
Another suggested reducing the size of plates so that people don't load too much food on them.
“I specifically assign one person in my family function just to watch, we are not serving food in much quantity. Sad to see people doing this,” a person said.
“Wastage of food is definitely a crime but unfortunately no law sad,” a comment read.
A user wrote, “This is literally every wedding”.
One person shared, “True. However, there are some NGO's who collect all this food for further distribution among poor needy people”.
Food wastage in any form is unacceptable. Most people reacting to the post agreed that while organising a wedding food wastage is one aspect that is often neglected, but that needs to change.