Research shows huge food waste in China

A new study shows that there were 17 to 18 million tons of food wasted in China every year from 2013 to 2015, which equates to the annual food consumption of 30 to 50 million individuals.

Researcher Cheng Shengkui from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said at a seminar held by the United Nations Environment Programme, All-China Environment Federation and other organizations in late November that they have surveyed 6,983 tables of 366 restaurants in Beijing, Shanghai, Lhasa, and Chengdu for more than 100 days, Economic Daily reported.

"We also interviewed more than 750 individuals, finished 7,489 questionnaires and weighed more than 32,000 dishes," he added.

"Agriculture industry uses 70 percent of fresh water and 30 percent of energy in the world, takes over 33 percent of land and produces 20 percent of greenhouse gas, and yet one ninth of global population still doesn't get enough food," said Yu Xin from World Wildlife Fund. "Humans always want more and find more ways to meet the demands, which has caused soil degradation, water shortage and environmental pollution. By 2030, we may need two Earths to meet our demands if we continue this trend."

But on the other side of story, one-third of food in the world is wasted. Xu Jie, an official from China's Ministry of Science and Technology, said there's about 1.3 billion tons of food wasted in various phases of the food supply chain, which means 1.4 billion hectares of land and 250 billion cubic meters of water are wasted every year.

James Lomax, an officer from the United Nations Environment Programme said that wasted food causes 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Cheng Shengkui's team also found in their survey that the food is wasted more in primary and high schools in China than at universities and companies. Their research report has prompted government and Beijing's schools to launch a series of educational activities to help students save their food and avoid waste.