Delivery in Extreme Weather: The Flip Side of Urban Convenience

The north has seen an unusual amount of rain this year, stretching from the torrential downpours of summer to the persistent drizzles of autumn. In this episode of *Food Talk*, we begin with the rains of late. We are joined by Yuyang, a former delivery rider and current editor at Foodthink, to discuss the realities of food delivery in extreme weather, taking cues from his article, ‘Trade Wars in Torrential Rain: The Delivery Rider’s Bitter Summer‘.

In the programme, we delve deeper into the lives of delivery riders and their true situation during rainy and scorching days: far from receiving ‘weather subsidies’, they may actually be fined for failing to work. Those seemingly caring ‘high-temperature subsidies‘ and ‘Summer Cool-down’ campaigns are merely platforms using sophisticated ‘tiered reward‘ mechanisms to shift more risk and labour pressure onto the riders.

In severe weather, riders have no sick leave and no circuit breaker mechanism to stop operations; delivery platforms have fostered a consumer dependency on “cheap delivery” by sacrificing the rights of the riders. This creates a paradox: when we debate whether to order delivery during a torrential downpour, we tend to assume the rider is bearing the cost on behalf of the consumer, effectively pitting our interests against theirs. But has the cost really been shifted?

As traditional wet markets and small family-run shops are squeezed out by these platforms—and gradually vanish—we seem to be losing a more human and healthy way of eating and living. Under the pressure of exorbitant commissions, merchants produce cheap food with compromised safety, while the various traffic accidents caused by delivery riders mean these consequences can eventually boomerang back onto every one of us. Do we still have the choice to change?

In this conversation about the rain, many of the problems seem overwhelming and unsolvable. Perhaps the small, positive side is that we can still imagine other ways to spend a rainy day. Perhaps by taking an umbrella to buy groceries, raiding the fridge, or cooking a meal with family? After all, these tiny changes might be the beginning of us regaining control over our own lives.

Guest/s

Tianle

Founding Editor of Foodthink

Yuyang

Editor of Foodthink

Host

Xiaojing

Food Talk host, focusing on food culture and sustainable living