Olympic Games organizers admit to wasting about 4,000 boxes of food

sad and pathetic but not at all surprising

Why didn’t you offer the food to the needy and homeless????

BAKA!!!

He explained that due to the heavy workload for volunteers they did not have a chance to eat the food,

Heavy workload for volunteers than previously planned, is this continue for the rest of Olympics?

The IOC ‘¥-FREE-labor, “volunteers” are so overworked they don’t have time to eat?

“… due to the heavy workload for volunteers they didn’t have a chance to eat, food which was set to be turned into animal feed & used for biomass fuel” -

He explained that due to the heavy workload for volunteers they did not have a chance to eat the food,

Hang on a sec.

The real issue here is that they have cut the numbers of 'volunteers' down so much because of the fears of Covid. This means that the remaining volunteers are so overworked that they don't have time to stop and eat!

Why didn’t you offer the food to the needy and homeless????

Dear Bob,

There are no needy and homeless people in Japan. It is a Utopia.

Sincerely,

The Government.

I still do not understand why the olympics leverages so many volunteer staff (okay this I do, because any company will happily take free labour if offered), and why people continue to volunteer.

This is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that mostly exists to pad the pockets of the IOC, they can afford to pay people. This isn't some charity that is struggling to make ends meet for the good of the people. If they need local labour, they should be paying for local labour. Nobody should ever be volunteering for something like this, and if people stop giving them their labour for free they will actually get paid for it.

Possibly another reflection of Japan’s “Work-First! attitudes about their own indigenous and foreign-labor workforce?

Yet, this “volunteer” force is working for FREE so, labor rules & laws probably don’t apply.

She’s been told by email she won’t be needed and asked not to sell the uniforms but keep them as a momento.

Given the nature of these games, a memento mori seems to be the appropriate phrase.

So why weren't the volunteers given the option to take the food home, or wherever they are staying after their workday ended? The government sure likes to waste our money.

How much did they waste on the volunteer uniforms? An acquaintance has 3 sets, long and short sleeve versions, custom made sneakers, the whole shebang.

She’s been told by email she won’t be needed and asked not to sell the uniforms but keep them as a momento.

Absolute waste. And there's something wrong when unpaid workers can't even find the time to eat. This, on top of the fact that those waiting for their second jabs have been told to delay it.

Absolutely shameful. Those thousands of wasted bentos could have been given to local food banks. Now, if their excuse would have been "It's not safe to give bentos sitting there." Then, just give them. Supermarkets discount their bentos, so it's not wasted. They could have given them to their volunteers to take home to their families. People, think. Very sad, indeed.

Volunteers are "paid" with a bottle of hand sanitizer, a mask and a free lunch. Are they at least given time to sanitize their hands?

4000 bento boxes. Let's assume one cost 500JPY (since it's organized by the government, the price was surely much higher to keep the pocket money, but let's count 500JPY). And that's only the part we know about.

Don't get mad at me, but That's just bad planning. And since the expiration date was printed, the next day the food was thrown away. Although it was perfectly fine. Another waste of our money.

Why do we even have volunteers in such mega events? These events generate billions in revenue probably. Paying a daily wages for these "volunteers" should be a grain in a ricefield for the economics of the Games.

A) how badly did they plan the schedules that the poor volunteers didn't have time carved out for food and rehydration? Did they misunderstand the term "volunteer" for "slave"?

B) why didn't they donate the food to homeless shelters, food banks etc.?

It seems the organizers (politicians and functionaries) of the games lost contact to the real world completely. Sports seems to be just the decoration that makes the people that really pay for those events swallow the bitter pills with a smile.

Probably on the exact same day we were bike riding in distant tokyo subburbs when we came upon an old women we often see hanging about, trying to find shade (no air-con at home) and someone to talk to. Perhaps because I am a foreigner she was able to whisper that she had not eaten for 3 days and did we have some small food? We actually had packed lunch and gave it to her. She almost cried.

Good on you. I'm quoting your post in case it does get removed.

Bob:

That would have been a good idea!

When nearly half of your volunteers don't even have time for a quick bento, you are wildly understaffed. And slightly cruel... the people are working for nothing. Uhg.

He explained that due to the heavy workload for volunteers they did not have a chance to eat the food, which was set to be turned into animal feed and used for biomass power generation.

Well there is a problem with the volunteers schedule if they don’t even get the chance to eat?

Not surprised they did volunteer after all. Not covered by any conventional Labour laws.

At least the waist will be reused not burnt as waist. So not a complete waist.

The last part of the last para sums it ALL up:

the Tokyo Games... "Mottainai", a Japanese expression of regret when something is used wastefully. -

The real issue here is that they have cut the numbers of 'volunteers' down so much because of the fears of Covid. This means that the remaining volunteers are so overworked that they don't have time to stop and eat!

It's the Japanese style. Even volunteers won't eat or sit down if they don't see their "manager" or "leader" eating or sitting down. It's the leader's fault for not taking care of the underlings.

On the other hand, my non-Japanese friend is a volunteer and she has entirely nothing to do so she just watch the games.

Well, at least it still be use as biofuel and animal feeds so there is that.

I think it's because of the heat. if the volunteers doesn't eat it quickly, by the end of the day it will quickly go bad. So is not like they can donate it to anyone else. Some volunteers prefer to go back home to eat or bring their own snacks.

If I was a volunteer, I would insist on meal breaks.

I would insist on it at a paid job, so I would certainly not accept such treatment at an unpaid one.

I wouldn't actually be surprised if many of the volunteers passed on the lunches anyway. As a volunteer who got to eat the lunches, the fare is a bit ridiculous. It's two salted [plain] rice balls, a tiny noodle bento with a slither of meat (about two croquettes) and a single drink bottle from Coca-Cola kabushika.

Generally the Olympics are a bit of an embarrassment. So much has gone wrong despite Japan being a developed country who can afford to do it right.

That is the norm here. Just the other day I got a single instead of a double at a burger joint. After waiting again for my correct order, they took my old one and promptly threw it in the trash instead of offering it to me.

Why didn’t you offer the food to the needy and homeless????

Because they have all been decanted out and away so they don't offend the eyes of the great and good, and the starry eyed journos coming for the fun and Games. Giving them food might 'encourage' them.

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14399513

If you can, chat to a homeless person, ask them what drink they would like, take it to them with a drink of your own, and sit and chat for a moment. It is often welcomed, and if it isn't, they have a right to reject it too.

Takaya revealed that there has been an approximately 20 to 30 percent surplus of food across all venues, particularly on July 23, the day the games opened.

He promised to optimize ordering processes and to ensure volumes procured better correspond with what will be consumed to prevent waste.

Read: in future we are not going to order for every volunteer, as mostly we don't give them time to eat during their shift. Just sick.

Waste should be going to the Food Bank NPO's

You got to be kidding. By the time it gets anywhere it would be spoiled! This isnt like conbini that have time limitations, as these bento boxes have been sitting around for long past the "date-stamp" and should be tossed!

I don’t understand a word. How about order just less and fitting, or give it to poor families, homeless, supporting NGO and such?