Posted on 05/19/2006 1:48:06 PM PDT by lainie
TOKYO - Walk into any Japanese noodle shop or restaurant and chances are you'll be eating with a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks from China. But not for long.
In a move that has cheered environmentalists but worried restaurant owners, China has slapped a 5 percent tax on the chopsticks over concerns of deforestation.
The move is hitting hard at the Japanese, who consume a tremendous 25-billion sets of wooden chopsticks a year - about 200 pairs per person. Some 97 percent of them come from China.
Chinese chopstick exporters have responded to the tax increase and a rise in other costs by slapping a 30 percent hike on chopstick prices - with a planned additional 20 percent increase pending.
(Excerpt) Read more at sptimes.com ...
"Supporters of environmental causes see the new Chinese tax as a chance to get rid of disposable chopsticks, which have been linked to deforestation and a wasteful lifestyle."
The DNC must be exporting its marketing strategies. Wonder how much they're making on that.
Semi off-topic, seeing as I have zilch experience with chopticks, I have always wondered, do they *have* to be made out of wood?
Darn tripod.
Oh. hehe
"do they *have* to be made out of wood?"
It's tradition I guess. Some eateries have switched to reusable plastic ones.
LOL!
You think a lousy 5% tax on a 10 cent item is going to stop anything?
I'm going to print a bunch of copies and trash them. ;)
Well, I have experience with them, and wooden/unpolished are always easier for me. They're larger, and have texture that allows for easier holding of food. Really nice, pretty, painted or lacquered chopsticks are hard to hold, and you almost always drop the food.
I've eaten sushi with (I think) porcelain chopsticks before. Quite elegant, and they worked just as well. But the Japanese have a thing for wood.
The Chinese and Japanese use porcelain chopsticks, while Koreans sometimes eat with steel chopsticks.
I've been to Japan and lots of people there have their own special chopsticks they carry in a tube when they go to dine out. It would only be the fast food places that would have disposable ones ..... maybe there should be a campaign to buy non-disposable chopsticks ... then there would be a whole new industry in the chopstick washing machine ....
An old buddy of mine, Chinese then, American now, (I was a witness for his citizenship) on special occassions would break out the ivory chop sticks. Just like we do with the 'good' silver.
In Japan, I only saw wooden (sometimes bamboo) chopsticks. In Korea, I saw mostly metal (stainless steel) chopsticks. They took a bit of getting used to, but then they work just as well.
Oh man.... I was all set to make pizzas tonight but now I'm craving Japanese food.
Much ado about nothing.
Literally...
What's next? A sand shortage?
Yes--noodles are slippery, and easier to pick up with wooden ones.
Reusable? Blech.
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