Big fat Indian weddings: a Bollywood villain in war on wasted food

Even as an estimated 46 million children go hungry, India’s middle classes are going the whole hog in the conspicuous consumption of food

US$14 billion worth of food is wasted every year by a public eager to emulate the opulent weddings of the rich and famous. But there is appetite for change

4-MIN READ4-MIN

A Robin Hood Army volunteer. Photo: Robin Hood Army

Published: 5:00pm, 5 Sep 2020Updated: 10:52pm, 6 Sep 2020

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s attempts to clamp down on his country’s “shocking and distressing” food wastage with his ‘Clean Plates’ campaign should be food for thought for the country’s next door neighbour.

India, the world’s second most populous country after China and home to nearly 1.4 billion people, is struggling with food waste too. Tonnes of it. The South Asian country bins a staggering 67 million tonnes – about US$14 billion worth – of food every year, according to a government survey.

Yet at the same time, in a cruel irony, starvation is rampant across the country.

According to the 2018 Global Nutrition Report, 46 million children in India suffer from malnutrition, accounting for one-third of the world’s stunted children, while in the 2019 Global Hunger Index, India ranked 102nd out of 117 countries.

Despite such chronic hunger, as the ranks of India’s wealthy swell, propelled by robust economic growth, conspicuous consumption of food has grown exponentially. From lavish banquets at big fat Indian weddings to mounds of food cooked at festivals and community gatherings to over-ordered dishes in restaurants, Indians are going the whole hog.

A boy eats roti at a slum in Mumbai. Tens of millions of Indian children suffer malnutrition. Photo: Reuters

Experts say the biggest villains are India’s estimated 10 million weddings a year which contribute significantly to the country’s annual food waste. According to the NGO Feeding India, 10 to 20 per cent of the food served at weddings is wasted. Be that as it may, austerity is far from the minds of India’s rich, who fly in exotic raw ingredients, meats and Michelin-star chefs from abroad to treat guests to stellar spreads at their nuptials.

Last year, at the wedding of Akash Ambani, the son of India’s richest man, tycoon Mukesh Ambani, tables creaked under the weight of gastronomic goodies from all corners of the globe prepared by an army of chefs. For one gala function, fresh burrata, ricotta, asparagus and black truffles were flown in from Italy alongside Italian chefs. The desserts were crafted by luxury Parisian bakery Laduree, owned by French billionaire Francis Holder, according to an insider.