WORLD’S ECO-LIFE
BUFFET-STYLE SERVING
Rev. Jeong Hee Kim, Chairman of Kwang Myong Hoy, the Republic of Korea
At Kwang Myong Hoy’s cafeteria, which services its employees and attendees of its events, food is served buffet-style: each person can take what he eats. You may wonder why buffet-style is good for the environment. In light of the food culture in Korea, this is quite significant.
In restaurants in Korea, in addition to the main dish, more than three dishes are served on the side, such as kimvchi, seaweed and namuru. Also, one is allowed to ask for a second helping. This has been kept up until today because of Korea’s tradition to treat customers with great care.
Buffet-style serving relieves one of the obligation to eat all the food that was served and allows each person to decide the right amount for himself. Kwang Myong Hoy switched to this style of serving in 2002. This has contributed to lessening food quantity and there is now almost no waste from cooking and left-over food.
This is a little different from the buffet in Japan, where one can eat all he wants.