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Flooding at Home, Tensions Abroad Raise Concern for China's Food Security

Shen Hua

   Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged his country to take immediate
   actions to curb what he called its "shocking and distressing" food
   waste problem as the worst flooding along the Yangtze River in years
   threatens the country's important rice crop.

   In an instruction released last week, [1]Xi urged the country to pay
   attention to the risks of food security, and highlighted the challenge
   the country faces as the coronavirus pandemic spurs concerns over
   tightening food supplies and surging prices.

   Analysts who spoke to VOA say recent pressure on China's food security
   is due to natural disasters at home and worsening relations with many
   of Beijing's trade partners.

   China's food waste

   [2]A 2018 report by the China Academy of Science found China wasted up
   to 18 million tons of food served in four big cities in 2015 alone,
   enough to feed 30 to 50 million people annually.

   The report said Chinese cities produce 25% of the world's municipal
   solid waste, most of it food. Patrons of the country's catering
   industry each wasted an average of 11.7 percent of their meal.

   According to a 2015 [3]estimate from the United Nations Food and
   Agriculture Organization (FAO), China wastes up to 35 million tons of
   food per year. That's nearly 6% of the country's annual food
   production.

   The FAO estimates that about one-third of all food produced gets lost
   or is wasted during production, transportation and consumption. However
   the situation is different in each country.

   Who's wasting food in China?

   In Chinese society, people usually treat others to meals in order to
   make new friends or enhance established relationships, and serving
   expensive and rare food is considered a form of respect for guests.
   [4]According to a 2015 study, a formal dinner typically includes 4 to 6
   cold dishes and 8 to 10 hot dishes, served with soup and fruits.

References

   1. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-08/11/c_139282457.htm
   2. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201803/27/WS5ab9a0c4a3105cdcf65147d8.html
   3. http://www.fao.org/save-food/news-and-multimedia/news/news-details/en/c/350718/
   4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618115000657

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