Innovative solutions found for worldwide problem
Primary school students in Deqing county, Huzhou, Zhejiang province, show they have cleared their lunch plates. (WANG ZHENG / FOR CHINA DAILY)
Any mention of cockroach-es in the same breath as food will provoke a reaction of disgust among most people, but not from Li Yanrong.
The 53-year-old entrepreneur from Shandong province raises cockroaches to consume kitchen waste, with his business earning millions of yuan annually.
Although we no longer have to worry about food, farmers still work hard in the fields, as every grain is hard to come by. Seeing food being wasted is really painful
Bai Yinzhong, farmer from Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture, Gansu province
At Li's company, which occupies a 1,800-square-meter plot 2 kilometers from Shawan, a village in the outskirts of Jinan, the provincial capital, some 1 billion cockroaches chew through at least 50 metric tons of food waste a day.
"We spent six years researching the use of cockroaches, finding they can feed on kitchen waste and create no pollutants. Cockroaches should not just be seen as pests, they can be beneficial to society," said Li, general manager of Qiaobin Agricultural Technology.
At one of the company's workshops, where simple equipment is used to process kitchen waste, a foul smell hangs in the air. Here, food waste is crushed, shredded and ground up before being transferred to a feeding system through a spiral tunnel.
"The cockroaches live for up to 11 months on average and their bodies, in turn, are eaten by chickens. They are very helpful, aren't they?" Li said.
Insects are being used worldwide to solve major problems, he added. "The most successful example of this is in Australia, where dung beetles are dealing with cow dung. This prompted us to think of using cockroaches to tackle kitchen waste.
"We are the first company in the world to do so and we have applied to patent the project. Using cockroaches to deal with kitchen waste is good for our country, as social problems created by such waste will be eradicated."
A staff member supervises food waste at a canteen in a government building in Beijing. (LIU BIN / XINHUA)
Food waste is a problem in many countries. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, a UN agency, an estimated 1.3 billion tons of food, or one-third of the total produced for human consumption, is wasted globally each year.
In the United States, food waste is estimated to comprise between 30 percent and 40 percent of the food supply, resulting in losses of about US$160 billion annually, according to the US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.
In China, about 67.5 million tons is wasted each year, comprising one-third of the world's food waste, according to an expert from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Science and Development, who spoke at a conference in Beijing in September.
Chen Shaofeng, deputy director of the institute's Sustainable Development Department, said that in the country's catering industry 17 million to 18 million tons of food－enough to feed up to 50 million people for a year－is spoiled or goes uneaten annually.
"The waste of food is also a waste of water, land, energy and other resources, resulting in greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of environmental pollution," Chen said.
Small portions of food are provided at a government institution's canteen in Huainan, Anhui province, where staff members are encouraged to upload pictures of cleared plates online and join charity programs. (CHEN BIN / FOR CHINA DAILY)
President's instructions
In recent years, China has spared no effort to reduce food waste, in order to meet one of the goals of the UN's 2030 Agenda－zero hunger.
President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has attached great importance to food security, repeatedly calling for thrift to be practiced and for waste to be opposed.
In 2013, Xi issued an instruction on the topic, and has since released others. The instructions call for forceful institutional constraints, strict compliance with systems, strong supervision and inspection, and severe punishment to effectively curb violations of rules, disciplines and laws regarding publicly funded consumption.
Xi also laid down specific requirements for reducing waste in schools and for promoting student awareness of thrift.
In August, he again emphasized the need to end food waste and also issued an instruction for thrift to be promoted. He stressed the necessity of enhanced legislation and supervision, effective measures and a long-term mechanism to stop waste.
Describing food waste as "shocking and distressing", Xi said maintaining a sense of crisis regarding food security is key, especially amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Small portions of food are provided at a government institution's canteen in Huainan, Anhui province, where staff members are encouraged to upload pictures of cleared plates online and join charity programs. (CHEN BIN / FOR CHINA DAILY)
Bumper harvests
For the past five years, China has recorded bumper harvests, with annual grain output reaching more than 650 million tons, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Last year, grain output, which has risen for 16 consecutive years since 2003, stood at 663.84 million tons.
At a recent news conference held by the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, Qin Yuyun, head of the body's Food Reserves Department, said cereal crop storage would meet nationwide demand within a year.
Given its huge population, China has always stressed the importance of preventing waste from food being harvested, transported, stored and processed before it reaches the dining table.
The country's Agricultural Law stipulates that food should be cherished and saved. Other legislation, including the Environmental Law, Consumer Rights Protection Law and Food Security Law, state that "all parties" should avoid wasting resources and polluting the environment.
During the fifth plenary meeting of the 19th Communist Party of China Central Committee, which ended late last month, an official document highlighted the need to save food and prevent it being wasted.
Xu Shiwei, a researcher from the Agricultural Information Institute at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said: "Having a bumper harvest doesn't mean we should adopt a careless attitude to food security. China has limited cultivable farmland, power and water resources. Food waste should not be allowed at any time."
In addition to raising public awareness about the need to save food, Xu suggested that restaurants and canteens should be encouraged to serve food on smaller plates.
Hu Dinghuan, a researcher at the academy's Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, said China is the biggest importer of grain crops, purchasing some 100 million tons of cereal grain annually from overseas for the past 10 years.
Although domestic wheat and rice production can meet demand, Hu said 85 percent of the country's soybean consumption is now supported by imports from the United States, Brazil and Argentina.
"As the international situation remains intricate and complex, it is vital to save food. Apart from increasing our domestic soybean production, we should bear in mind our long tradition of saving－not only food but also other resources－and further promote green sustainable social development," Hu said.
A kindergarten teacher shows children in Huayin, Sichuan province, how corn grows. (QIU HAIYING / XINHUA)
Initiatives launched
Of the food waste campaigns introduced in China, arguably the best-known is the "Clear Your Plate" initiative, which was launched in 2013.
Bai Yinzhong, 70, who experienced a period of severe food shortages in the early 1960s, is an avid supporter of this campaign.
Living in poverty-stricken Dongxiang autonomous county, Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture, Gansu province, he vividly remembers those desperate days. "I would have starved to death if no one had helped me out," he said.
However, thanks to the efforts of the central and local governments, residents have bid farewell to the bad times, and food shortages are no longer an issue.
"Although we no longer have to worry about food, farmers still work hard in the fields, as every grain is hard to come by. Seeing food being wasted is really painful," Bai said.
In Dongxiang, the government publicity department and the education bureau have launched initiatives to help consumers and catering enterprises reduce food waste and practice thrift. Anti-food waste posters and slogans can be seen in restaurants throughout the county.
Similar action has been taken in many other areas of the country, including Qingdao, Shandong province, where half-portion dishes are being served in many restaurants.
Gao Jie, who owns a local eatery, said, "Our waiters remind customers to order the right amount of food and ask them to pack the leftovers."
In Gansu's capital of Lanzhou, a city known for its handmade beef noodles, smaller bowls are being used by restaurants serving the dish, in an effort to reduce food waste.
Local resident Zhang Ziwei said: "In the past, I had to ask the chef to give me a smaller helping, as the portion was usually too large. Now, I can order a small portion, which reduces waste and is cheaper."
Efforts to end food waste and promote thrift are being made by catering companies and restaurants, which are reminding customers to avoid over-ordering. Different-sized portions are being encouraged to give diners more choice.
Colleges and universities have also joined the efforts to curb food waste.
Deng Weijun, a chef at Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou, found that part of the reason for food being wasted was that the dishes provided did not meet student tastes. As a result, he and his colleagues are monitoring leftovers every day and are optimizing menus.
Wang Xifen, president of the Qingdao Food Culture Research Association, said, "Food waste is a serious problem in modern society, and the COVID-19 pandemic is a further wake-up call that we should curb this as soon as possible."
Xinhua contributed to this story.
