ABSTRACT
Using social practice theory as a theoretical framework and drawing mainly from informal interviews in Shanghai, this chapter argues that most people are strictly and consistently thrifty regarding how to handle food leftovers. Strong love for their family and relations of intimacy are tied to how people carry out these often speechless and stubborn habits. For some residents, managing leftovers is part of an explicit discourse: some have learned from food scarcity in the past, some manage leftovers as a way to express caring relationships with friends or relatives, while others are concerned about environmental pollution. As part of table manners, the urban Chinese, and especially professional Chinese with higher cultural capital and international experiences or perspectives, are demonstrating increased consciousness around the notion of ‘sustainable consumption’ – a relatively recent phenomenon. The discourse behind these changing table manners could be named ‘from thrift to sustainability’.
