Grocery shopping is a topic you can not avoid no matter living in which country. Surprisingly, in Germany, they do take “food” pretty seriously. Speisequark, which is quite common in Europe (and almost nowhere to find in East Asia), shows me a strange symbol with “Kostbares Retten” written on it. After a quick research, I found out it says something like ”rescue the precious”. It aims to reduce food waste(“Halving food waste”, 2020).
去超市，是一个在哪个国家都避不开的生活日常。未曾想到的是，在德国，吃，这一件事，却又有很多讲究和门道。Speisequark是一种欧洲很常见的乳渣制品，类似于国内相对浓稠的酸奶。我偶然间在标签上发现了“Kostbares Retten” 的标志。经查阅之后发现，这是一个拯救食物浪费的运动(“Halving food waste”, 2020) 。虽然“食品安全”是难以避免的话题，德国人倡导： 闻一闻，尝一下，开始享受，哪怕在最佳日期到期之后（Riechen. Probieren. Genießen. Auch häufig nach Ablauf des Mindesthaltbarkeitsdatums）。他们认为，哪怕在保质期过后，牛奶，奶酪，酸奶等制品通常也很好。然而，大多数的消费者却会选择将其抛弃(www.dw.com), 2020)。
Although food safety can be a big issue, the Germans still choose to promote – Smell. Try. Enjoy, also often after the best-before date has expired.（Riechen. Probieren. Genießen. Auch häufig nach Ablauf des Mindesthaltbarkeitsdatums）Even after the best-before date, the dairies like milk, yogurt and cheese can still be good to eat. However, most of the customers usually just throw them away(www.dw.com), 2020).
在一次采访中，德国食品贸易组织的发言人说到：”The importance of the best-before date is overestimated this way because most of the foods that are thrown away have no best before date at all.” （最佳有效期的重要性被远远高估了，因为很多被扔掉的食物其实并没有什么最佳有效期）(www.dw.com), 2020)
In an interview, Christian Böttcher of the Federal Association of the German Food Trade told DW, “The importance of the best-before date is overestimated this way because most of the foods that are thrown away have no best before date at all.(www.dw.com), 2020)”
因此，德国人认为消费者应该相信自己的感觉，没有坏掉的食物，就还可以食用。但是我们为什么要如此抠门呢？食物浪费真的有这么严重吗？
Therefore, the Germans believe that customers should trust their feelings. If it has not turned bad, then you can eat it.
But why do we have to do this? Is wasting a bit of food such a huge problem?
根据联合国粮农组织2019年的报道，在超过八千万人口还在挨饿的世界里，我们每年浪费着13亿吨的食物，而这，是世界年产量的三分之一。(FAO, 2019)(“FAO – News Article: Food wastage: Key facts and figures”, 2020)
According to the report from FAO in 2019, in a world with more than 820 million people starving, we are wasting 1.3 billion tonnes of edible food per year – this is a third of the world production.(FAO, 2019)(“FAO – News Article: Food wastage: Key facts and figures”, 2020)
其中，很大一部分都发生在 “Distribution” (分配) 和“Consumption” （消费）这两个环节上(Food wastage footprint, 2013)。所以，从消费者这里入手，似乎是个有效的方案。
Of which, a large part of wastage happens during distribution and consumption stages in the supply chain(Food wastage footprint, 2013). From this point of view, starting from us – the customers, seems not to be a bad idea.
中国， 北美， 还是德国？
A comprison between China, North America, and Germany
中国 China
作为骄傲的中国人，我常常感概自己的文化中对于“环境保护”和“珍惜食物”的重视。从幼儿园开始，孩子们就知道，“谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦”。
As a Chinese, I always feel the emphasis of traditional cuture on “protecting the environment” and “saving the food”. From kindergarten, children learn traditional poetry “谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦”, which literally translate to: Who knows the dishes food, each grain is from the hard work.
我成长在一个不算富裕的普通家庭中。我们从来不浪费食物。上一顿吃不完的，下一顿解决。好好的粮食，是绝不会扔进垃圾桶的。哪怕是发了芽的大蒜，我们也可以种出新鲜的蒜苗来。
Growing up in a definitely not rich family, we never waste any food. If you have leftover this meal, you eat it in your next meal. Good food will never end up in the garbage bin. Even the sprouted garlic, we will grow them in the kitchen.
这也就是为什么，在我搬到北美之后，当地人夸张的购物体量和扔掉食物的份额，令我张目结舌。
That is also why I was so shocked when I realized how much food people can buy and throw out in North America after I moved there.
北美 North America
特别是如果你看得到沃尔玛的垃圾桶，一定会和我一样，忍不住思考，这背后究竟是什么逻辑呢？
Especially if you have ever seen the pictures of Walmart garbage bins, you must be thinking the same – what is the possible logical explanation behind this?
（沃尔玛的垃圾桶）(“Here’s how much food Walmart throws away over 12 days | CBC News”, 2020)
关于北美这个特有的现象，我总结了以下几点：
Regarding this kind of a “North America Specialty”, I concluded a few points:
1. Store overstocks 积压太多的东西
在经济因素的驱使下，超市常常摆放多个相同的产品在货架上。因为顾客通常认为，最后一个必然有什么问题而选择放弃购买。
Driven by economic factors, supermarkets usually put more than one of the same product on the shelf. The reason is, customers naturally assume the last one is the worse one and not buy it.
2. Looking good? Aesthetic 不够好看，扔掉
很多不够完美的农产品，常常在初步挑选的时候就被扔掉。
Many of the not-so-perfect farm produce is thrown away in the first selection stage.
3. Health safety concerns 健康安全顾虑
尽管在北美，捐赠食物有法律保护（Good Samaritan Food Donation Act）不会被起诉，企业却仍不愿意冒风险。
In North America, even the act of food donation is protected by the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, it is still hard to persuade companies to take any risk without benefits.
4. Donation is not free! 捐赠不是免费的！
当我看到这些被浪费的食物，我抱怨“为什么他们不捐赠给有需要的人呢？”。但是我忽略掉的，是“捐赠”这一过程中，隐形的花费。不管是打包，运输，还是雇佣人员负责捐赠事项，都是一笔开支，而以利益为导向的企业们，又为何要浪费金钱在这上面呢？(Food Waste: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), 2020)
Every time when I see food being wasted, I complain about why don’t they just give to the people in need. But somehow I ignored one thing important – during the process of “donation”, there are many hidden costs: packaging, shipping, workers’ salaries, etc. For the profit-motivated companies, why should they waste any investment on this?(Food Waste: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), 2020)
我特别能理解到这一点。尤其是当我在温哥华帮忙分发免费食物后，大把的时间，精力，汽油钱和保险，都被义务且不求回报的投入其中，这对其他人，有什么特别的吸引力吗？
I understand this point, especially after I volunteered for distributing free food in a food rescue program in Vancouver, a huge bunch of time, energy, gas, and insurance were put into it. For many others, how can this be attractive?
（我录制的一段视频展示我们的工作流程）This video shows how we work together and deliver free meal.
