Anthony Bourdain Talks Tough About Food Waste

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Anthony Bourdain does not walk through the world with the political certainty of a chef like Tom Colicchio or the activism of a chef like José Andrés, who is in Puerto Rico cooking hot meals for survivors of Hurricane Maria.

But in an onstage interview with me on Thursday night as part of The New York Times’s series of Times Talks, he made it clear that he intended to become a general in the fight against food waste. And his chief tactics, he said, will be shame and public humiliation.

“Do not underestimate the value of shame,” he said.

Mr. Bourdain’s targets are inefficient home cooks, people who rely solely on restaurant food, those who don’t compost and grocery stores.

“Go to any major chain supermarket and think about that tower of perfectly stacked, impeccable oranges or tomatoes, and understand that the supermarket by design has already figured and costed-out the fact — the immutable fact — that they will throw 30 percent in the garbage just so it will look cool,” he said. “This is horrifying.”

Joining him was the chef Danny Bowien, who stars with Mr. Bourdain in their new film, “Wasted: The Story of Food Waste,” which had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on Thursday.

In other news of specific interest to fans of Mr. Bowien’s cooking, he announced that he’ll soon open a new branch of Mission Chinese Food in Bushwick, Brooklyn. He opened his first Mission Chinese Food in San Francisco seven years ago, and followed with another in Manhattan.

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