why?

"Leftover food" ban in China September 14, 17:06

China's Xi Jinping Jintao August, towards the whole nation, issued a certain "important instructions".

What are the instructions?

Tax instructions?

Or is it a financial problem?

Or a diplomatic problem?

In fact, none of them, the answer was an instruction about "leftover food".

What exactly does that mean?

(Yoshihiro Oyama, Directorate General of China)

The trigger was Xi's "command"

"Light board action"

is a slogan in Chinese that means "action to eat cleanly without leaving food on the plate".

I often see them in Beijing these days.

Opportunity is, Xi Jinping Zemin is the August 11, issued through state media "important instructions".

"The phenomenon of wasting food and drink is serious and painful!"

"

　Who knows that

each grain on the plate is the result of people's hardships

(who knows Chinese food, all grains are painful) "

He issued a command to the people, citing the Chinese poetry of the Tang dynasty poet (Li Gen), to firmly prevent "food loss," in which food is discarded due to unsold food or leftover food.

Wasted food for 30 to 50 million people?

In China, it is common to surround a table and eat a large plate of food separately.

Chinese people who take good care of men often order more meals for dinner to show that the host treats the guests politely.

At wedding banquets, it is natural to serve food that cannot be eaten.

For this reason, a large amount of leftover food will be left.

According to a survey conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the amount of leftover food produced at restaurants in urban areas of China in a year is 17 to 18 million tons.

It is equivalent to 30 to 50 million people's food for one year.

Why is food loss prevented now?

In fact, this is not the only time that food loss has been highlighted in China.

Seven years ago, in 2013, President Xi issued a similar instruction, asking the public to warn of waste, but it was not thoroughly enforced.

However, there has been no food shortage in China since then.

Looking at the statistics, the self-sufficiency rate of rice, wheat and corn, which are staple foods, was 98% last year.

The Chinese government has repeatedly explained that there is currently no problem with food supply.

So why are you giving instructions again?

The key is the new coronavirus.

It seems that the background is that China is raising awareness of the crisis about food security as a result of the spread of the infection.

Unpredictable in corona

Although China claims that its staple food, grains, is basically self-sufficient, some agricultural products have to rely on imports.

The representative is soybean.

In fact, we rely on imports for 85% of our consumption.

The main importing countries are Brazil, the United States and Argentina.

In both countries, the impact of the spread of the new coronavirus is serious.

Of these, the relationship with the United States is "the worst situation since the establishment of diplomatic relations" (Foreign Minister Wang Yi).

So far, it is not said that imports have had a real impact, but if imports from these countries disappear, the impact on China's food situation will be enormous.

Professor Chung Fuda of Renmin University of China, who is familiar with China's food problems, said, "Since the spread of the new coronavirus,'uncertainty' has increased in the global food supply. Therefore, the future is unpredictable for the Chinese government. In order to prepare for the virus, we are trying to prevent waste of food while increasing the production of agricultural products. "

Measures in various places

In response to President Xi's "command", various measures are being taken in various parts of China.

“Delivery” has increased in demand due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection.

At the Peking Duck restaurant we interviewed, half the size of the regular menu was popular so that you wouldn't leave it uneaten.

Although the price is reduced by half the size, it is said that the profit has increased by about 20% compared to before because it became popular and the number of repeaters increased.

In addition, there are stores that individually ask customers to order as much as they can eat, and stores that offer discount coupons for meals to those who eat cleanly.

In addition, the state media is actively reporting on measures such as the cafeteria in the government office where observers are set up to provide patrol guidance, and local measures that prevent customers from ordering less than the number of customers.

In addition, some of the videos boasting gluttony, which was popular on Chinese video sharing sites, were deleted because they encouraged waste.

Will waste be eradicated?

However, it is unclear whether this will actually reduce leftover food immediately.

Professor Chung, who I introduced earlier, also pointed out that "Chinese people like to entertain people, and when customers come, they fill the table with food. This is a matter of custom and it takes a very long time to change." ..

In addition to calling for it as a campaign, it says that more enforceable measures such as law should be taken.

In fact, China's legislative body, the National People's Congress, is reported to have begun to consider legislation to prevent food loss.

In China, heavy rain disasters centered on the Yangtze River basin have caused agricultural damage this summer, and the damage caused by the outbreak of grasshoppers has also been reported, increasing the risk factors surrounding food security.

"People make heaven with food (people's edible heaven)"

It is a word that expresses how important food is to Chinese people.

In the future, if a serious food shortage occurs in China, it may lead to a situation that shakes the rule of the Communist Party administration.

The reason why President Xi started this campaign is to prevent food loss and to secure more food in his own country in order to avoid such a situation, so that he will reduce his dependence on foreign countries. Let's do it.

China's food problem, which has a population of 1.4 billion, is directly linked to the world's food problem, and of course Japan cannot be free.

I would like to continue to cover the food problems of Chinese people from Beijing.

China General Administration of reporters

Yoshihiro Oyama

1995 joined

Political Department, through the international section

China General Administration from last year