Tokyo Olympics organisers apologise for wasting food after social media uproar

Tokyo Olympics: The organisers have been crticised for ordering too much food and then wasting it during the opening ceremony which was held on July 23 at National Stadium.

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Tokyo Olympics organisers apologise for wasting food after social media uproar
Organisers have been criticised for ordering too much food during the opening ceremony (Reuters Image)

In Short

  • Tokyo Olympics organisers have been criticised for ordering excess food and wasting it
  • Videos of trucks carting off boxes of uneaten food went viral
  • The organisers have also been criticised for holding the sporting extravaganza amid Covid-19 pandemic

The Organisers of Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday apologised for ordering too much food for their staff during the opening ceremony and then wasting it. This comes after videos of rucks carting off boxes of uneaten food went viral on social media.

The organisers, who are already facing massive protests for holding the sporting extravaganza amid the pandemic, invited fresh set of lashings for wasting food at the National Stadium, the venue where the Games' opening ceremony took place on July 23.

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Thousands of untouched lunch boxes and rice balls have been discarded at the stadium as a decision to hold the Games without spectators slashed the number of volunteers there, Tokyo Broadcasting System Television reported late last week.

The report was particularly embarrassing for organisers as they have long projected Tokyo 2020 as the sustainable Games and declared on their own website that "Tokyo 2020 aims to minimise the adverse impact of resource waste". That line was included under the headline "Resource Management: 'Zero Wasting'".

Tokyo 2020 spokesman Masa Takaya said on Wednesday it was true that there was a surplus of food during the opening ceremony.

"From this week, measures to optimise (food) orders are being implemented at each of the venues, (and) we regret that large amount of over-ordering has occurred up until now," he said, clarifying, however, that surplus food was not disposed but recycled into animal feed and other uses.

The broadcaster's videos of untouched lunch boxes and bread getting chucked into a large bin sparked an instant uproar on social media and beyond.

"This can't be happening. There are people out there who are so hard-pressed in this coronavirus pandemic that they don't have enough to eat," one Twitter user wrote.

(With input from Reuters)

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