Food Delivery in Extreme Weather: The Flip Side of Urban Convenience

The north has seen remarkably heavy rainfall this year, stretching from the torrential summer downpours right through to the lingering autumn drizzle. For this episode of *Food Talk*, we’ll begin by talking about those recent rains. We’ve invited Yu Yang, a former delivery rider who now works as an editor at Foodthink. Taking his article Market Rivalry in the Downpour: A Delivery Rider’s Bitter Summer as our starting point, we’ll discuss the realities of food delivery in extreme weather.

In the programme, we delve deeper into the realities of delivery riders, particularly their plight during rain and scorching heat: rather than receiving any “weather subsidies”, they risk being fined simply for failing to clock in. What appear to be caring gestures—such as “high-temperature subsidies” and “summer cooling campaigns”—are, in truth, merely part of a cunning “tiered reward” system devised by the platforms to offload greater risks and labour burdens onto the riders themselves.

In adverse weather, riders receive no sick pay and are subject to nowork-suspension protocols. Delivery platforms foster consumer reliance on ‘cheap takeaways’ precisely by sacrificing riders’ rights. The resulting paradox is that when we debate whether to order delivery during a downpour, we assume the riders are bearing the cost for us, framing our interests as mutually exclusive. Yet has the cost truly been shifted?

As neighbourhood markets and family-run corner shops are increasingly squeezed out by delivery platforms, even fading from view, we seem to be losing a warmer, healthier approach to food and daily life. Meanwhile, driven by the pressure of steep commission fees, merchants resort to producing cheap meals with little regard for food safety. Add to this the traffic accidents involving delivery riders, and these consequences are poised to boomerang back, ultimately affecting us all. Do we still have the power to choose differently?

In this conversation about heavy rain, many of the questions raised feel too vast to solve. But on a smaller, more optimistic note, we can still pause to imagine: are there other ways to navigate a wet day? Perhaps slipping out under an umbrella for the shops, checking what’s left in the fridge, or cooking a proper meal with the family? After all, these small shifts might just be the first step towards taking back control of our own lives.

THIS/EPI/SODE/GUESTS

Tianle

Founding Editor, Foodthink

Yuyang

Editor, Foodthink

THIS/EPI/SODE/HOST

Xiaojing

Host of Food Talk, covering food culture and sustainable living