by Cardinal Stephen Chow, S.J.
We talk about human rights, animal rights, children’s rights, consumer rights, patient rights and so on. But what about our food? Does food have rights?
For us Christians, rights are based on a foundational reality: all lives are created by God, the Source of Life, out of God’s loving benevolence. Human beings, in particular, are created in the image of God, which bestows upon them and other life forms their dignity that comes from God’s love. One might say that humans should have special dignity because of the image of God in us. However, we must not forget that with privilege comes responsibility. We are missioned by God to take good care of God’s Creation.
Hence, all rights should be built on the gift of dignity and not contradictory to it. If we solely focus on our individual rights, that will undermine not only the rights of others but also their foundational dignity, especially that of the weaker parties. Such regretful outcomes are violations of God’s loving intention in creation.
I have been invited to a couple of large-scale banquets in the past weeks. What I have seen was certainly regrettable. After the first or second course, most diners started moving around networking. They simply did not eat, or at best, they ate randomly. What did that mean? Much food was wasted as the servers were seen serving and removing the untouched dishes round after round. I could not help but wonder how the servers felt witnessing this. Personally, I would have felt scandalised and disconnected from the diners.
I can understand the advantages of networking and the diners’ concern for their health with the banquet food. I also recognise the cultural expectation of hosting a celebratory banquet for a significant milestone or achievement. Sadly though, those life forms turned into food for the absent diners were simply sacrificed in vain. Their dignity was not appreciated and was even ignored when the food served was left untouched and discarded.
Of course, I am not referring to food that has been ruined during cooking or food that is no longer fit for human consumption. Consuming such food would have sickening effects on the consumers. However, the unfit food should only amount to a relatively small portion of the total mass of wasted food.
I assert this not because of my vegetarian diet but out of respect for life and our duty to care of our Common Home. Irresponsible consumption of anything, and food in particular, will eventually hurt ourselves and the sustainability of our ecosystem.
As we celebrate the beginning of a new year, we reflect on the theme picked by our Holy Father for the World Day of Peace 2025 — “Forgive us our trespasses: grant us our peace.” This theme aligns with the spirit of the Jubilee Year 2025 — “Pilgrims of Hope,” which focuses on hope through reconciliation and uniting people.
When we disregard the dignity of other lives, we inflict hurt and damage on a global community whose sustainability has become fragile. The idea of non-human life and food for humans are readily dismissible is toxic to our consciousness. Our respect for life and righteous love for the insignificant parties will be weakened. This, in turn, will further damage the already troubled relationships between the “haves” and the “have-nots”, between humanity and the rest of God’s creation.
I am sharing my thoughts at the start of a new year, not because I want to spoil our celebrations but to make them more respectful and graceful to the parties with lesser voices, which must include the natural environment, of which we are just one of the constitutive parties. Now, how can we hold good celebratory parties, allowing networking activities but not wasting food at the same time? We need creativity and some cultural changes!
A healthier, hope-filled and fruitful 2025 to all of you and our Common Home!
+ Stephen Chow, S.J.
