How can China achieve sustainable food and food security

Note: On November 2, a report titled “How Can China Sustainably Ensure Its Own Food and Food Security?” was presented by John B. Cobb, Jr., director of the Institute for Postmodern Development of China and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, at Renmin University of China, moderated by Professor Wen Tiejun. This article is excerpted from the report.

Dr. Cobb is a world-renowned postmodern thinker, ecological economist, and process philosopher, a leading figure in constructive postmodernism and organic Marxism. For many years he has been engaged in research on process philosophy, postmodern culture, and ecological civilization, and has published more than 10 works. He is a postmodern thinker of world influence. He is both the author of the world's first monograph on ecological philosophy ("Is It Too Late?") and one of the earliest thinkers in the Western world to propose “green GDP.”

How can China move toward food security in a globally insecure world? I suggest four necessary measures: (1) shorten supply lines; (2) use organic, sustainable farming methods; (3) implement flexible intensive production; (4) limit demand.

In my brief discussion of these topics, I think one point is clear: China's food security will depend on preserving and developing its countryside. Finally, I will comment on what such activity requires.

Needless to say, I can only offer an overview or outline of a major, critical topic. I am sure that on each of the topics I will raise, many of you may know far more than I do. If I can contribute anything, it lies in stating their interconnections and pointing out the necessity of formulating an integrated policy and plan.

I. Shorten Supply Lines

I hope the connection between security and not depending on distant resources is obvious. If China's agriculture relies on the United States for seeds, China cannot become a fully independent country.

If China relies on food from Africa to make up for shortfalls in domestic supply, other countries may also need that food, thereby cutting off China's supply lines. It is almost self-evident that the United States is trying to place itself in a position to blockade China's maritime trade. Making China dependent on African food production runs counter to food security.

Global capitalism's continuous pressure to make all countries dependent on the global market concentrates power in the hands of those who manipulate the global financial system. In this respect, I think China has avoided the worst situation, but I worry that it will compromise. I hope it will increasingly strengthen its domestic trade, especially in agriculture. Even domestically, it would be best to avoid extreme specialization among different regions. If it trades with other countries, it would be best to trade with neighboring countries, especially Russia. I would be delighted by ever-increasing cooperation between China and Russia.

II. Sustainable Practices

Organic agriculture is more labor-intensive, so agricultural schools dominated by neoliberal economics will not promote it. But policies supported by neoliberal economics are making the entire planet uninhabitable. We must stop applying them.

Organic agriculture is not only sustainable but also produces food more beneficial to health. Its production process also keeps people healthy in body and mind, and it can help restore healthy communities damaged by agricultural industrialization.

I am glad that today more and more people have reached a consensus on this. I want to call attention here to several requirements of sustainability that are not yet universally recognized. Unlike “dirt,” “soil” is a finite resource. It is being used far faster than it is being produced. In some parts of the world that were once highly productive, topsoil has been lost and can no longer support much vegetation, if any remains at all. Some ancient cities were abandoned after the soil on which they depended was lost. Clearly, there is almost no truly sustainable agriculture in the world.

Even typical organic agriculture loses some topsoil every year. In fact, in the long run, any agricultural method that relies on plowing is unsustainable. In essence, plowing exposes soil to erosion by wind and rain. I know that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has set a target for farmers of allowing only 1% of their topsoil to be lost each year. The U.S. government seems to believe that at home, agriculture has only a hundred years left.

Fortunately, some farmers have discovered an agricultural method that can replace plowing, namely “no-till” agriculture. I am not qualified to discuss it, but it sounds like a major breakthrough.

I have heard more about the possibility of developing perennial grains. Perennial plants like fruit trees clearly do not need plowing. The wild ancestors of grains were all perennial. To increase their edible yields, farmers converted them into annuals, and the process of plowing topsoil began there. Wes Jackson has worked for forty consecutive years on developing crops that are both perennial and high-yielding. His headquarters is called The Land Institute, located in Salina, Kansas. Recently he achieved real success for the first time, and this is precisely what is inspiring people around the world to begin experiments.

I believe China is also experimenting with perennial upland rice, and perhaps other experiments are underway. Jackson asks farmers to replace the current unsustainable annual monoculture with sustainable, even regenerative, perennial polyculture, that is, planting two mutually beneficial plants next to each other. Chinese farmers have long known the advantages of polyculture. If China devotes its main resources to developing perennial crops, they may lead the world toward truly sustainable agriculture.

Obviously, as the climate becomes worse and more unpredictable, completing any kind of agricultural task will become increasingly difficult. Farmers will no longer be able to follow the same schedule every year. They will often have to find ways to grow crops in environments with less water. Governments can provide support for continuous experimentation. The challenge is enormous.

III. Increasing Production

Now let us discuss this challenge further. Under worsening conditions, merely maintaining current production levels will be very difficult, and productive land will decrease while demands will rise. Some increase in production may come from strong incentives for urban food production. But more will come from farmers in the countryside.

If farmers are replaced by industrial production, this cannot be achieved. Industrial production inevitably needs to adapt to stable-resource production under given conditions. Labor is highly specialized, making it impossible for individual workers to produce any product. Constantly changing and worsening environments require attention to adjusting and rotating crops. They require people to have an intimate, extensive understanding of the land and to be able to complete the entire process of crop cultivation.

I recall the situation in Cuba that I learned about long ago. It had an agreement with the Soviet Union to exchange sugar for food and oil. But this agreement suddenly ended. Cuba was hastily forced to feed itself.

At that time, nearly half of Cuba's land was used for industrial agriculture. Machines could not run without oil, and workers knew nothing about farming. For many years they produced almost no food. However, nearly half the land was still held by peasant households. They were able to adapt quickly to this change in demand and shift from sugar production to food production, thereby feeding themselves and the people in neighboring cities. At the same time, people in the cities also produced a large amount of food for themselves. The Cuban people did not starve.

Many experiments in intensive agriculture have already succeeded. They all moved from industrial agriculture to the opposite end of the spectrum. If the Chinese government wants to help farmers greatly increase production in a sustainable way, it can study the successful experiences of experimenters around the world and find ways for farmers in China to conduct their own experiments. China can lead the world.

IV. Limiting Demand

One of the problems in feeding the world's entire population is that those who enjoy cheap food waste enormous amounts. I have heard that in the United States, only half of the food prepared is actually eaten. I have certainly witnessed a great deal of waste. I grew up during the Great Depression, so I was taught from childhood to avoid waste. Seeing so much food left on plates and thrown away is heartbreaking.

In some parts of the world, people survive by finding food in urban garbage dumps. They eat some of the discarded food, which clearly harms their health. There should be far better ways to share food and avoid hunger.

I believe China's per capita waste is not as extreme as that of the United States. But I worry that as more and more Chinese become “middle class,” this advantage will weaken. Many restaurants undoubtedly waste enormous amounts. In the United States, we usually pack up leftover food from restaurants and take it home. I am afraid this practice is not widespread in China.