Should restaurants and grocery stores be fined for food waste?

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Should Restaurants and Grocery Stores Be Fined for Food Waste?
The world is currently debating the ban on food waste—an agenda, which began in France and is now spreading rapidly to other nations. For a majority of Europeans, food waste raises moral questions. For instance, in France, people despise wasting food. This is because food is an important element of their culture. In Asia, it is frowned upon to waste food because doing so shows a lack of gratitude to the farmers and cooks who work hard to produce and prepare food. This essay examines the issue of food waste to determine if restaurants and grocery stores should indeed be fined for wasting food.
France's revolutionary law had been in discussion for a while. This is because economic troubles within the country were forcing people to scavenge for scraps in dumpsters outside restaurants and grocery stores. The law was passed amid growing concerns about food wastage in the country and globally. Under the new law, all stores of more than 4,305 square feet were required to set up collaborative deals with charities by July of 2015. If they failed to have a working system in place, they would face fines of up to 75,000 Euros ($85,000) or a two-year jail term.
However, the issue of fines is now just picking up. For instance, in several Taiwanese restaurants, restauranters are imposing fines on customers who fail to finish their food. In other restaurants, customers are being rewarded for finishing their food. This practice is also becoming common in Germany. Biswas is quick to note that many foods are wasted in our homes, supermarkets, and restaurants. According to the author, a Canadian filmmaking couple embarked on creating a documentary in 2014 to encourage people to avoid wasting food and eat whatever they have. The couple was motivated to make the documentary after they learned that 40% of the food produced in the U.S. gets discarded. In the U.K., Biswas finds that 600,000 tons of food prepared in restaurants is wasted every year.
However, given that supermarkets contribute to the lowest fraction of food waste in France, the country's supermarket association fought the legislation when it was introduced. Thompson notes that it is not only France that has introduced laws to combat food waste. The UK has also launched a voluntary program with several supermarkets within the country. For instance, Tesco announced that it would be teaming up with a local charity to donate its unsold food. In comparison, the United States (U.S.) still throws away more than 133 billion pounds of food every year. According to Thompson, humans consume only a third of all the food produced in the world. This means that there are plenty of resources, including water and money, that produce food that never gets eaten.
Thompson finds that France only contributes a small fraction of the estimated 2.8 trillion pounds of food wasted worldwide. However, media coverage of food waste in France has helped raise awareness among the public. This, thanks to the law banning supermarkets from wasting food, has helped save 46,000 tonnes of food that would otherwise be thrown away. Also, donations to food banks in the country are up by 20%. The law calls for a stiff penalt...