Food waste is not only on the dining table; waste outside the dining table also cannot be ignored

When it comes to food waste, people's attention tends to focus on the “visible waste” at the dining table, yet they rarely pay attention to losses in the various stages after the harvest. Grain missed and not picked up by harvesters, fire and mold during storage, spillage during circulation and handling, excessive polishing during processing…… According to statistics, in the post-production stages alone, the grain lost in our country in a single year exceeds 70 billion jin, close to 6% of our country's total grain output, equivalent to the annual grain output of Jilin Province, a major grain-producing province. Grain loss has become an important factor affecting our country's food security.

According to the author's investigation, post-harvest grain loss mainly comes from four aspects: First, missed grain during mechanical harvesting. Take corn for example. In the past, when corn was harvested by hand, the corn stalks were first cut down, then the corn cobs were broken off one by one, hauled home, and only then threshed. Most of the work during this period relied on manpower, and there was very little loss during harvesting. After mechanized harvesting was introduced, because the corn kernels are relatively dry and brittle, corn kernels easily fall off when the cobs are harvested. When corn has lodged, some cobs are also left behind, and every year such losses are considerable. Second, storage. The author's survey in rural areas of parts of Changzhi, Shanxi Province, found that many farmers still store grain by piling it directly on the ground, which very easily leads to gnawing by rats and mold, causing enormous waste and also lowering grain quality. Third, transportation. Some grain purchasing and storage enterprises have crude storage facilities and backward transportation methods, which not only increase the risk of stored grain but also increase grain loss during circulation. Fourth, excessive processing. As living standards improve, when people buy rice they demand not only taste but also appearance. Therefore most rice on the market is polished, even polished multiple times. But each polishing removes a layer from the rice, reducing the rice yield. Excessive grain processing not only lowers nutrition but also increases production costs.

If post-harvest grain waste is not resolutely curbed, it may intensify the contradiction between domestic grain supply and demand. While persisting in vigorously developing grain production, we must vigorously reduce post-harvest grain loss.

First, awareness of cherishing and saving grain must be strengthened. The root cause of food waste lies in people taking cherishing and saving grain lightly and being indifferent to the phenomenon of food waste. Publicity and popularization work to eliminate post-harvest grain waste should be done well, and targeted education, criticism and punishment should be carried out against behavior that wantonly wastes grain.

Second, grain prices must be rationalized. At present, bulk agricultural products, mainly grain, have entered an era of high prices in our country, but grain prices are still noticeably low. If grain prices are too low, it is bound to affect enthusiasm for growing grain and the establishment of awareness of saving grain. Only by rationalizing grain prices can we promote both increased grain production and conservation.

Third, infrastructure construction must be strengthened. Vigorously promote advanced trial storage, loading and unloading, and transportation technologies and equipment to effectively reduce logistics losses of grain. Increase technical support and funding investment for scientific grain cultivation, storage, transportation and processing, promote the improvement of farmers' grain storage conditions, research and develop new technologies suitable for farmers' grain storage, accelerate the construction of the grain circulation system, and reduce transportation losses. Carry out research on scientific grain storage, transform concepts of grain storage, change the current state of extensive management, accelerate the development of new grain storage models such as “grain banks”, advance grain reserve management, and upgrade by leaps and bounds toward modern directions such as green grain storage and intelligent management.