China News Service, Beijing, August 12th. Question: What is Xi Jinping’s consideration of “raising the alarm” on Chinese food waste

　　China News Agency reporter Huang Yuqin and Li Jingze

　　China's top leader Xi Jinping recently issued important instructions to stop food waste. He emphasized that we must resolutely stop food and beverage waste, and earnestly cultivate the habit of saving, and pointed out that "the phenomenon of food waste is shocking and distressing!"

　　Experts interviewed in Beijing said that during this special period, the central leadership focused on “waste on the tip of the tongue”, behind which was a high priority on food security and social customs, and promoted the establishment of systems to solve the problem of food waste.

　　Xi Jinping pointed out that "despite the bumper harvest in my country's grain production year after year, we still have to be crisis-conscious about food security. The impact of the global new crown pneumonia epidemic this year has sounded the alarm for us." According to observations, Xi Jinping considers the issue of food waste from a high level of food security, which shows that the potential harm of food waste is great, and it also shows the precautions for ensuring food security in a special period.

　　At present, China's grain production has been harvesting year after year, and the grain supply has been basically self-sufficient. However, in the medium and long term, grain production and demand will still maintain a tight balance. As a major food and beverage country, the Chinese people have always been proud of the food culture that combines "food for the people" and "hard work". However, in today's highly developed catering industry, food waste has become more prominent.

　　Statistics show that from 2013 to 2015, China’s catering food wastage amounted to approximately 17 million to 18 million tons per year, which is equivalent to 30 million to 50 million food rations per year. In 2018, the national per capita food waste rate in the catering industry was 11.7%.

　　"Years of bumper harvests seem to have made the hard-won concept of food less and less." said Chang Jian, a professor at the Zhou Enlai School of Government and Management of Nankai University. Pay equal attention to ensuring food security."

　　Not only that, there are external challenges such as the new crown pneumonia epidemic, floods, and locust plagues that are superimposed on the current situation of tightly balanced food production and demand. In the opinion of experts, this series of external factors will make food security more important, and the wind of food waste will be more "dazzling."

　　After the outbreak, many major grain exporting countries in the world have successively introduced export restrictions, which have affected global grain production, processing, trading and transportation. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recently released a report that predicts that by 2020, the world's food-deficient population may increase by 130 million people due to the epidemic, ushering in the worst food crisis in the past 50 years, and future world food security may be further undermined.

　　In recent instructions, Xi Jinping said that the impact of the epidemic "sounds the alarm" on food security, and emphasized that there must always be crisis awareness. In this regard, Chang Jian believes that external changes and challenges have made the importance of "rice bag" security more prominent for China, and curbing "waste on the tip of the tongue" is an act of danger in times of peace.

　　In addition to food security, curbing food waste is also inseparable from social trends. In his instructions, Xi Jinping requested, "Essentially cultivate the habit of saving, and create an atmosphere of shame for waste and pride in saving".

　　Zhu Lijia, a professor at the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China (National School of Administration), said that diligence and thrift are the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation. "From a certain perspective, wasteful behavior is not a phenomenon that a healthy society should have." The high level of the central government's attention to unhealthy social phenomena and ethos is conducive to timely correction of related problems.

　　A review found that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the phenomenon of food waste has improved to a certain extent from the launch of the "CD Action" to the introduction of relevant documents to rectify waste. But it is undeniable that food waste in some places still exists, and waste in some areas is banned.

　　Some analysts have pointed out that the reason is that vanity and the social atmosphere of ostentation are the result of the lack of binding measures and disciplinary mechanisms, which make it impossible to stop wasteful behavior in a timely and effective manner.

　　Regarding this issue, Xi Jinping proposed a “treatment of both symptoms and root causes”. On the one hand, it is necessary to “strengthen legislation, strengthen supervision, adopt effective measures, and establish a long-term mechanism”, and on the other hand, “further strengthen publicity and education”.

　　Dai Yanjun, a professor at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (National School of Administration), said that the above-mentioned measures anchor the establishment of a customized system and use a rigid system to restrain and punish profligacy. Focus on cultural construction, urge the society to uphold the cultural tradition of "practicing economy and opposing waste", and strengthen the internal binding force.

　　It is worth noting that the effective implementation of the deployment of "treatment of both the symptoms and the root causes" is more worth looking forward to. At present, many catering and culinary associations across the country have successively issued initiatives to call on catering companies to take the initiative to provide small and half dishes, guide consumers to take the initiative to pack, and in-depth "CD Action".

　　The person in charge of the Hainan Hotel and Catering Industry Association told the China News Agency that according to the needs of the government and consumers, designing the menu into small, medium, and large portions saves costs for companies.

　　From an institutional perspective, in recent years, France, Italy and other countries have successively introduced bills to curb food waste, requiring supermarkets to donate surplus food to charities or food banks, and receive corresponding tax relief. According to observations, relevant legislative practices have provided China with a good reference and reference.

　　Dai Yanjun pointed out that the legislative intention to curb food waste shows that the construction of the national system is constantly improving in response to the actual needs of social development. "Previously, local laws and regulations have been issued to address the issue of food waste. As they have received widespread attention across the country, it is worth looking forward to improving relevant legislation at the national level." (End)