China's food security needs to be examined from a new perspective

Food security is a matter of paramount importance in governance. As a large country with a population of more than 1.3 billion, the Party and the government have always attached great importance to food work and have put forward a new food security strategy of "relying mainly on ourselves, basing ourselves on domestic production, ensuring production capacity, importing appropriately, and supporting with science and technology." This has major strategic guiding significance for doing a good job in food work under the new situation and ensuring national food security.

When discussing China's food issue, some scholars and industry insiders always point out the difference between China's concept of food and the internationally used concept of food. The concepts of food and grain commonly used abroad are not consistent with China's concept of food. Domestically, people are accustomed to collectively referring to traditional staple foods as "food," mainly meaning rice, wheat, corn, beans, and tubers. For example, China classifies soybeans as food, while the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations classifies them as oilseeds. Abroad, the concept of "food" corresponding to the Chinese term does not exist, and no English word corresponding to "food" in the Chinese sense can be found in English dictionaries. What international organizations and governments around the world pay close attention to is "Food," that is, "food," and not merely "grain." The Concise Oxford Dictionary published in the United Kingdom in 1982 explains "Food" as: substances necessary to sustain body growth, metabolism, and life processes and to supply energy, basically composed of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. In addition, it also contains some minerals, vitamins, and auxiliary substances indispensable to the body, and it is a nutrient substance in solid form. (Research on the Current Situation, Challenges, and Countermeasures of China's Food Security, by Cao Baoming et al., China Agriculture Press, 2011, p. 2). The Medium- and Long-Term Plan Outline for National Food Security (2008-2020) also provides an annotation on this, namely that food in the Outline mainly refers to grains (including wheat, rice, corn, etc.), beans, and tubers; and food refers to grain, edible vegetable oil, meat, poultry, eggs, milk, and aquatic products. The author does not intend here to specifically compare and discuss the differences between the two concepts of "food" and "food" in China and abroad, but rather attempts, starting from the current realities of China's economic and social development, to briefly analyze the new changes and new situation in China's national conditions and food situation, and to point out that in order to conform to the new trends and new requirements of China's national conditions and food situation, it is necessary to examine and consider China's food security from a completely new perspective; to satisfy the people's food needs and nutritional development needs, and to guarantee China's food and food security fundamentally and in the long run, it is very necessary to transition from the existing traditional concept of food security to an overall and completely new concept of food security.

A comprehensive understanding of the new situation facing our people's food consumption and food security

It is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

The people's food consumption demand is showing new changes, and there are three major trends that require attention and emphasis. First, the demand for staple rations is declining, while the demand for feed grain is growing, because people's consumption demand is upgrading and the demand for meat, eggs, and milk is increasing. Rice is China's most important staple ration. Since the 1990s, with the increasing diversification of the consumption structure, the proportion of rice consumption in total food consumption has generally shown a slowly declining trend. In 1978, the proportion of rice consumption was 40.31%, and in 2010 this proportion was 33.58%. In 2007, residents' staple ration consumption was 264.5 million tons, accounting for 51.61% of total consumption demand. It is expected that by 2020, residents' staple ration consumption will fall to 247.5 million tons, and its proportion of total consumption demand will fall to 43.0%. Feed grain will continue to grow, and its proportion will approach that of staple rations. It is expected that by 2020, feed grain will reach 235.5 million tons, and its proportion of total consumption demand will reach 40.92%. (The Food Security Strategy for 1.4 Billion People, edited by Han Jun, Xuexi Publishing House, Hainan Publishing House, 2012, pp. 59-62) Second, urbanization is accelerating, and urban residents' consumption of non-staple foods is growing rapidly, which will generate new incremental demand for the consumption of non-staple foods. According to a 2012 survey by the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2011 farmers' per capita consumption of processed grain was 120 kg, while urban residents were one-third lower, at about 80 kg. However, for all other agricultural products consumed, urban residents were clearly higher than farmers. Fresh vegetables were 28% higher, edible vegetable oil 24% higher, meat (including the three major meats of pork, beef, and mutton) was about 56% higher for urban residents than farmers, poultry was 136% higher, poultry eggs 87% higher, and aquatic products more than twice as high. Therefore, with the accelerated advancement of China's urbanization, the consumption demand for non-staple foods will further increase, and we must fully estimate and prepare for this. Third, as living standards continue to improve, people's dietary concepts are becoming increasingly scientific and rational; at the same time, based on the need to ensure national nutritional development, diversified demand for food has already become an objective trend and an inevitable requirement. According to the food consumption targets established in the Outline for the Development of China's Food and Nutrition (2014-2020), by 2020, the national per capita annual consumption will be 135 kg of staple rations, 12 kg of edible vegetable oil, 13 kg of beans, 29 kg of meat, 16 kg of eggs, 36 kg of milk, 18 kg of aquatic products, 140 kg of vegetables, and 60 kg of fruit. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to develop a diversified whole-food industry system. The trend of diversified food consumption is both an objective reality and an inevitable requirement of economic and social development. The focus of people's attention has shifted from eating enough to eating well and eating healthily. Therefore, it is necessary not only to attach importance to the "rice bag" project, but also to the "vegetable basket" project, and even more to nutrition and health projects oriented to the whole population, key regions, and different groups.

For a long time, excessive emphasis on staple grain production has placed enormous pressure on the ecological environment. Based on the need to solve food and clothing problems, China has traditionally attached great importance to staple grain production, and the concept of "taking grain as the key link" has a long history. The excessive development of cultivated land and the sustained pressure to increase grain output have, through long-term accumulation, to a large extent caused serious soil erosion, declining surface water, excessive use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and other problems, placing a heavy burden on the ecological environment. At present, China's use of chemical fertilizers may be the highest in the world. In 2012, China's use of chemical fertilizers converted to pure nutrients reached 58.39 million tons, the use of pesticides was 1.8 million tons, and agricultural film was 2.38 million tons, with about 1 million tons of fragments and residues remaining in the soil every year. Various pollutants discharged from agricultural production account for about half of the country's total discharge of various pollutants. All of this has caused a certain degree of land pollution and a decline in soil fertility. Therefore, establishing a new concept of food security, and, according to the actual conditions of China's land resources, comprehensively and rationally laying out the food production system from the perspective of whole food, doing what is suitable for cultivation as cultivation, what is suitable for grazing as grazing, what is suitable for forestry as forestry, and what is suitable for fishing as fishing, can not only ensure the overall supply of food, but also help restore and protect the ecology.

Satisfying the objective demand for the diversification of Chinese people's food consumption requires building a complete food industry system. From the above analysis, to conform to the new changes in consumption demand and satisfy the people's new needs for nutritional development, we need to build an all-round food industry system. On the premise of ensuring absolute security of staple rations and basic self-sufficiency in grains, the healthy development of other food industries must not be ignored. In the long run, establishing an overall and completely new concept of food security is conducive to the adjustment and balance of the industrial structure and to promoting the healthy and coordinated development of related industries, such as the coordinated development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries.

Building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and the healthy development of the economy and society require the provision of all-round food security. China's per capita GDP in 2013 already reached more than 6,700 US dollars, and the country has entered the ranks of upper-middle-income countries. The ultimate purpose of development is for people, and a country's level of food security, health and nutrition standards, life expectancy, and quality of life are important indicators for measuring a country's level of economic and social development. Among them, incorporating food security as an overall category into consideration and making comprehensive arrangements is more in line with the actual conditions of national and social development. On a larger scale, the shift from the concept of food security to the concept of food security is also the result of a country's choice of macro strategy at different stages. At a lower stage of development, the main task is to ensure eating enough; when entering the middle and advanced stages of development, the goal orientation is to eat well and eat healthily, to satisfy as much as possible the people's need for a scientific and rational diet and to ensure nutritional and healthy development, and to strive to achieve diversification of food structure, standardization of products, scientification of diets, and popularization of nutrition.

Looking at the above-mentioned new trends facing the people's food consumption and food security, it is necessary to re-examine the supply and demand situation of grain and food from a scientific perspective, and most importantly, to re-examine food security from a developmental and holistic perspective. The so-called developmental perspective means deeply analyzing changes in people's demand for grain and food at different stages of development, conforming to the new changes in residents' food consumption demand, and formulating scientific food development strategies at different stages of development. The so-called holistic perspective means placing food security in the overall situation of national economic and social development for consideration, planning it within the people-centered governing philosophy, and comprehensively analyzing the mutual influence of all relevant parties. Therefore, the necessity and importance of expanding food security into food security are self-evident.

Innovative measures to effectively ensure food security

To ensure China's food security, the following measures need to be taken in the long run. First, increase publicity efforts, guide people to establish a scientific outlook on food and nutrition, and cultivate more scientific and rational food consumption behavior. Second, focus on ensuring basic self-sufficiency in grains and absolute security of staple rations. While advocating the transition from the concept of food security to the concept of food security, the importance of the original traditional food security cannot be denied. The most important part of this is to ensure basic self-sufficiency in grains and absolute security of staple rations, because for a large country with a population of more than 1.3 billion, the issue of food can never be underestimated. Third, increase the development of animal husbandry and fisheries and expand food resources. At present, it is necessary to vigorously develop animal husbandry and fisheries, as these two major industries play an important role in providing food diversity. Fourth, make coordinated use of land and resources to ensure food supply capacity. China is rich in land and resources, and systematic planning must be made. According to the current conditions of different forms of land and resources such as cultivated land, grasslands, wetlands, forests, rivers, and lakes, coordinated planning, zoning layout, and adaptation to local conditions are needed to ensure food supply capacity in the long run. Fifth, increase environmental protection efforts and protect the ecosystem that supports food supply. Comprehensively summarize China's past experience and lessons in ensuring food and food security, effectively strengthen ecological protection, and, proceeding from the long-term interests of future generations and the sustainable development of the nation, effectively protect the ecosystem that supports China's long-term food security. Sixth, accelerate the transformation of government functions and build a sound, clearly responsible, and efficiently operating administrative management system for food security. On the basis of the existing administrative operation system for grain and food, consideration may be given to first establishing a food security management coordination committee to strengthen the coordinated management of existing grain-, agriculture-, and food-related departments, and after sufficient running-in, then merge institutions and integrate functions, thereby achieving streamlined institutions, improving administrative efficiency, and ensuring national food security.

A deep understanding of the major significance of the transition from the concept of food security to the concept of food security

"With grain in hand, the heart is not anxious." The special importance of food security has had a profound influence in China and has historically played an important role in ensuring the healthy and sustained development of China's national economy and society. However, the times are constantly developing, and a country has different historical tasks at different stages and different development strategies in different periods of development. Only by conforming to the development of the times and actively making changes can we ensure that we always move in the right direction. Food security is a foundational strategy for a country. Under the current situation, adjusting the concept of food security to the concept of food security in accordance with the times is of great significance. The most important points are as follows: it is conducive to the people establishing a scientific concept of food consumption, breaking out of the traditional concept of grain consumption, comprehensively ensuring nutrient intake, and steadily improving the people's nutritional level and physical fitness; it is conducive to raising people's awareness of ecological and environmental protection and accelerating the advancement of ecological civilization construction; it is conducive to fundamentally ensuring food security, and under the guidance of the concept of food security, coordinating the use of land and resources, coordinating the development of the food industry, and systematically ensuring the construction of the food ecology and environment, thereby fundamentally and in the long run guaranteeing the food needs of the Chinese people at different stages of development; it is conducive to promoting the transformation of government functions and allowing food security to play its foundational and strategic role in national governance. Only by first changing concepts can there be a clear direction for action and work measures, then rising to governance at the level of systems and institutions, and ultimately allowing food security to lay a solid material foundation for the country's long-term stability and sustainable development.

Therefore, the transition from the concept of food security to the concept of food security is not simply about aligning with the international community, but is the need and inevitability of conforming to the new changes in China's food situation and satisfying the people's new food consumption needs. This conceptual change is also not a simple conceptual conversion, but an overall consideration and comprehensive plan for a large country with a population of more than 1.3 billion in relation to factors such as food supply, ecological protection, industrial development, national nutrition and health and quality of life, and coordinated economic and social development. What is needed is not only a change in concepts, but more importantly, practical action, because food security is closely related to our lives and livelihoods, which is what is meant by "the people regard food as heaven."