Malaysia S Heritage Food Needs More Than Nostalgia It Needs Sustainable Policy Investment

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Letter to Editor
WHEN nasi lemak, roti canai and teh tarik were officially recognised by UNESCO in 2024 as part of Malaysia’s breakfast culture, the nation celebrated with pride. These dishes are more than comfort food. They are vessels of history, identity and community. 
Yet behind the celebration lies a sobering question: how can Malaysia preserve its food heritage, while ensuring sustainability in production, supply chains and cultural continuity? The answer requires more than nostalgia. It demands foresight, investment and transformative change.
At the heart of heritage food, lies agriculture and the environment. Climate change and ecological pressures are disrupting the very ingredients that define Malaysia’s cuisine. Rice, the backbone of nasi lemak, faces volatile pricing and yield instability due to floods, droughts and pest outbreaks. 
Anchovies, essential for both the spicy chili condiment sambal and the side dish in nasi lemak, are increasingly threatened by overfishing and warming seas.
Coconut yields, vital for coconut milk, are also falling due to changing weather patterns and land-use pressures. These trends have steadily pushed up the prices of both ingredients.
These disruptions may appear minor at first glance, but they signal a deeper vulnerability. If left unmanaged, the rising costs of these ingredients will make it increasingly difficult for hawkers to sustain their businesses. 
Heritage dishes could become luxuries instead of everyday staples. For policymakers and businesses, this is not merely a culinary issue. Instead, it is a challenge of food security and sustainability. Preserving heritage food, therefore means investing in climate-resilient agriculture, sustainable fisheries and better resource governance.
Another quiet crisis threatens Malaysia’s food heritage is the decline of hawker succession. Many of the country’s most beloved dishes are tied not to corporations but to small family-run stalls, often operated by ageing cooks with no apprentices. 
Dishes such as char kway teow, nasi kandar gravies and nyonya kuih, carry generations of skill and memory. However, younger Malaysians, drawn to white-collar jobs and modern career paths, are increasingly reluctant to inherit these trades.
This trend is not just a sentimental concern. Hawker culture underpins an entire ecosystem of suppliers, markets and small businesses. Its disappearance would leave significant gaps in livelihoods and urban culture, reducing diversity in the food economy. 
From a sustainability accounting perspective, hawker culture represents a form of social capital that is built on trust, tradition and knowledge transfer. Losing it would not simply be cultural erosion, but it would be a drain on Malaysia’s intangible assets.
If Malaysia is serious about sustaining its heritage food, it must re-engineer the supply chains that support it. Many heritage dishes rely on long and carbon-intensive routes. Anchovies may travel from Sabah to Penang, while spices move across borders with little consideration for their environmental impact. 
Waste is another pressing issue. Night market stalls still depend heavily on single-use plastics and unsold food often ends up in landfills.
There are viable solutions to these challenges. Local sourcing can reduce dependency on distant suppliers and cut emissions. Green logistics, including consolidated transport and energy-efficient storage, can lower costs for hawkers while reducing their environmental footprint.
Reusable and biodegradable packaging, such as banana leaf wraps and deposit-based tiffin carriers, can revive cultural practices that align with sustainability. 
What is needed is coordination and incentives. Businesses can be encouraged through tax reliefs or rebates for adopting sustainable practices, while community co-operatives can help small producers pool resources for storage, transport and digital traceability.
Government policies already provide a framework for sustainable food systems. The National Agrofood Policy 2.0 emphasises sustainable agriculture and food security, while Malaysia’s SDG Roadmap calls for better resource management. However, the missing link is implementation that bridges policy with community innovation.
The use of Geographical Indications (GI), a legal recognition that ties products to their place of origin, has already protected Sarawak pepper and Bario rice. Expanding GI coverage to more heritage foods could preserve authenticity while boosting rural livelihoods and Malaysia’s nation branding.
Community-based innovations are equally important. Apprenticeship models, where senior hawkers are paired with young cooks, could ensure continuity of skills and traditions.
Universities and business schools can contribute by documenting traditional recipes, designing sustainable business models for hawker enterprises and training entrepreneurs in financial literacy and green practices. 
In this context, sustainability accounting plays a crucial role. By quantifying social, environmental and cultural impacts, it becomes possible to demonstrate that heritage food is not a liability of the past but an asset for the future.
Preserving heritage food is not simply about taste. It is about nation branding, rural empowerment and sustainable tourism. Tourists do not flock to Malaysia for fast-food chains. They come for nasi kerabu, sate and teh tarik. If these foods lose their authenticity or disappear altogether, Malaysia loses a unique comparative advantage.
At the same time, heritage food embodies values that align with modern sustainability thinking. Traditional dishes often minimise waste, use seasonal ingredients and foster community through shared eating. 
In other words, what is considered “old” in heritage food can inform what is “new” in sustainability. By framing heritage food as part of Malaysia’s sustainable development agenda, the country can win both hearts and minds.
Editors, policymakers and readers alike should recognise that food heritage is not just about culture, but it is strategy. It is about securing supply chains, strengthening small businesses, empowering rural producers and positioning Malaysia on the global stage as a nation that values both tradition and innovation.
To lose our food heritage to climate threats, weak supply chains or generational neglect would be to lose a part of ourselves. To preserve it through sustainability, policy and innovation is to secure not only our past but also our future.
Malaysia’s heritage food, where culture meets sustainability, deserves nothing less than a national commitment. 
Dr Dalilawati Zainal is a senior lecturer at the Department of Accounting, Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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