China to Outlaw Binge-Eating ‘Mukbang’ Videos | Hacker News Reader

China to Outlaw Binge-Eating ‘Mukbang’ Videos

sixthtone.com

15 pointsketamine__9 comments

That's an odd thing to crack down on. Does it really hint at food security concerns, or is there a deeper cultural phenomenon involved?

I can never bring myself to throwing away food where the labor of other people has been involved (cooking or growing) . I can justify myself by various consequentialist arguments, but deep down I know that I have a moral duty to eat it. I am morally bound to not throw it into the trash, regardless of whether there are any staring children in the world that can be helped by my action.

Many people in the West find this frame of mind totally alien. Most people in the east immediately understand it, as did I think most Westerners (at least) before the 20th century.

https://books.google.com/books?id=oJFBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA32&dq=ru...

Not disagreeing with your general point, but the article does bring up a counterpoint:

> The current draft law includes provisions requiring catering service providers to remind consumers to avoid food waste, and to actively dissuade them from ordering more dishes than they can possibly finish — a common way to show hospitality. Restaurants should offer different portion sizes and are allowed to charge consumers for having to dispose of their leftovers, the document says.

There is a sense of injustice that the anti-food waste campaign affects ordinary people while the rich engage in gluttony.[1] At least this law doesn't risk triggering such sentiment.

It would be interesting to know whether someone calculated the impact of 'Mukbang' videos on consumption. South Korea already tried to regulate these videos in 2018 as a public health concern, which was presumably based on some analysis.

[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/13/operation-empt... :

> “Can you first limit the dining of officials? Don’t always take away from the people,” one said, referring to formal banquets and lavish meals held by officials.

Isn't there an argument to be made that people watch these videos with fascination and don't replicate what they see like viewers of a cooking show would attempt?

Some do, surely. But it is more likely that at a population level the effect is akin to food advertising, and it is not difficult to prove that food advertising does not just shift consumption from one source to another, but also increases calorie intake.

I watch them to see if maybe this time the octopus will escape.

I'm rooting for the octopus too.

Not so much directly about food insecurity, but that it could lead to comments being made that contradict the official narrative that there are no problems. After all mukbang videos attract a lot of viewers.

>This year, Chinese farmers were hit by flooding and typhoons, and the timing of the anti-food waste campaign engendered doubts about the country’s food security. Through it all, officials have maintained that there is an ample supply of food.

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