By yin pumin

Urging conservation at the dinner table has become the clarion call of an online campaign.

Millions of netizens across China re-blogged China Land and Resources News Vice President Xu Zhijuns mid-January appeal to curb food wastage and appreciate the virtue of being thrifty even in times of plenty. Xu called for people to take uneaten food home after banquets.

Serving excessive amounts of food is rooted in Chinas culture of face. The sociological concept， closely related to honor and prestige， is readily observable at banquets， where excessive portions represent the hosts overwhelming hospitality. A plenitude of uneaten food enables the host to gain face. However， if diners finish everything on the table， the host may lose face， appearing stingy or lacking finances.

Beijing-based China Agricultural University estimates 200 billion yuan （$32 billion） worth of food goes to waste in China each year， enough to feed approximately 200 million people.

After polling 2，700 diners in Chinese cities， the university concluded that at least 8 million tons of protein， enough for the annual demands of 260 million people， and 3 million tons of edible fat， close to 130 million peoples annual consumption， were discarded from 2007 to 2008.

Such figures are astonishingly high in a country where 128 million people live on less than $1 a day. Official figures show that about 5 million people in southwest Chinas Guizhou Province received government food aid last year.

public response

Xus online crusade to encourage cleaned plates and bagged leftovers began in April 2012 but gained little traction until becoming the subject of reporting by the China Central Television（CCTV） and Xinhua News Agency. The microblog of Peoples Daily， Chinas mostcirculated newspaper， deemed it an honorable act and a show of selfrespect.

In late January， the Beijing Catering Trade Association， Beijing Cuisine Association and Beijing Western Food Association， along with 10 franchise restaurants in the city， launched a joint anti-waste initiative garnering rapid response. More than 750 restaurants in Beijing have announced that customers are encouraged to order smaller portions and take home what they cant finish.

At the Meizhou Dongpo Sichuan Restaurant， special posters are put on the tables to remind customers to order sparingly， while also pointing out that they are encouraged to take leftovers home. Instead of persuading customers to order a wide range of expensive dishes， waitresses would suggest modest orders to be supplemented later if diners are still hungry.

“We had 20 small-portion dishes before. Now， in order to answer the call to save food， we added another 10 half-portion dishes，” said Tao Dan from the Marketing Office of the Meizhou Dongpo Sichuan Restaurant.

“We can avoid wasting food on the one hand， and on the other hand， customers can order a wider variety of dishes，” Tao said.

Tang Qingshun， Chairman of the Beijing Food Industry Association， said that a pilot program for this campaign showed that the choice of small and half-portion dishes can reduce around 50 percent of the wasted food for family dinners.

Meanwhile， some restaurants offer rewards to customers who eat all their food or take away their leftovers or hand out coupons to diners who do not squander their food.

“All these methods have proved effective and can be promoted，” Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said at a national meeting on January 28. The meeting focused on measures to eliminate food waste.

Liu Qinglong， a professor at the School of Public Policy and Management of Beijing-based Tsinghua University， was happy to see the change in attitude toward food wastage， but he said that hes waiting to see how things pan out over the long term. He expressed concern that the new move might be short-lived and would fade away in the face of traditional cultural pressures.

“Ostentation and preserving face have been part of Chinese culture for thousands of years，” Liu said， adding that people dont like to be seen taking food home from restaurants for fear that neighbors and friends may think them stingy. He suggested that the government should introduce a media and social supervision mechanism to combat these perceptions.

Yuan Longping， a renowned agricultural scientist， has even called for criminalization of negligently squandering food.

“China has a large population and little arable land， and we scientists have worked so hard to improve rice harvests. But after production increased， people wasted it，” Yuan said in an interview with CCTV.

Official figures show that Chinas grain output in 2012 rose 3.2 percent to 589.57 million tons. However， import figures tell a story of a strained domestic grain supply facing an increasing population and expanding cities.

According to official statistics released in January， Chinas grain imports hit a record high in 2012 of 72.3 million tons， which means that Chinas self-sufficiency rate on grain has plunged below 90 percent， a warning sign that the nation may have a food security issue.

The Chinese Government sets a 95-percent bottom line on its grain self-sufficiency rate， according to an earlier white paper on food security.

Chen Daifu， a deputy at the National Peoples Congress （NPC）， Chinas top legislature， told Xinhua that he and other lawmakers proposed a law to curb and prevent food waste， as well as punish those responsible for wasting food.

A government campaign

The “clean plates” campaign is also part of a drive by Chinese leaders to fight extravagance and advocate thrift. Last December， the Political Bureau of the ruling Communist Party of Chinas（CPC） Central Committee released eight provisions requiring officials to improve their work habits and refrain from excessive spending， especially spending on luxury banquets.

Many provinces have followed suit， launch- ing their own， more-detailed versions. Central Chinas Henan Province has ordered that business meals for officials should feature no more than four dishes， and alcohol is prohibited. Southwest Chinas Guizhou Province has set a time limit of 45 minutes on meals paid from the public purse.

Also in last December， the Central Military Commission said that military banquets would be banned， as would alcohol at receptions.

On January 22， Xi Jinping， General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee， once again called on all Party organs and members to maintain a frugal lifestyle and resolutely oppose all kinds of extravagance， including luxury banquets.

The traditional idea of frugality should be promoted among the entire Party， Xi said， adding that all government organs， institutions， state-owned enterprises and non-profit organizations as well as officials at various levels should work toward putting an end to extravagance.

As far as Xu is concerned， the transformation from a non-government campaign to one with government support highlights the need to curb wasteful habits. “The fight against food wasted by officials is a fight against corruption，”Xu said.

The latest example of the governments efforts came on February 5， when the head of a state-owned enterprise was suspended from his post for attending a luxury banquet after one of the diners wrote about the event online. CPC discipline authorities in Zhuhai in south Chinas Guangdong Province have ordered Zhou Shaoqiang， General Manager of Zhuhai Financial Investment Holdings Co. Ltd.， to step down after he exceeded the spending limit for an expensive dinner. Zhou and 16 others attended a banquet at a local restaurant on January 4 at a cost of 37，517 yuan （$6，022）， including 12 bottles of pricey red wine.

In south Chinas island province of Hainan， Wang Qun， Director of the Finance Bureau for Qiongzhong， a poverty-stricken county， was suspended from his post and placed under investigation after allegations of misusing public funds in restaurants， a disciplinary watchdog said. Investigators said Wang spent 15，000 yuan（$2，408） on three banquets for friends and colleagues in January.

“We have found other government depart- ments in Hainan are also involved in the misuse of taxpayers money on feasts and we will find those who are accountable and punish them，”said Luo Zhijun， Deputy Director of the CPC Hainan Provincial Commission for Disciplinary Inspection.

No guarantees

Due largely to the national frugality campaign， many restaurants， especially high-end ones， have already reported sharp declines in extravagant banquets.

According to a survey conducted by the China Cuisine Association， as much as 60 percent of restaurants， mostly upscale ones， said many reservations have been canceled since the end of last year.

Chen Junhai， an executive at Wangshunge Restaurant Group in Beijing， said that efforts to eradicate publicly funded extravagance had been a big blow to many high-end catering businesses.

About 30 percent of Wangshunges income comes from hosting luxury business banquets， Chen said.

In Tianjin， the number of banquets held by government departments in the past month dropped nearly 30 percent year on year， according to Xing Ji， head of the Tianjin Catering Trade Association. Xing said that the average cost of official banquets had also fallen by 50 percent.

In Haikou， Hainan， restaurants have reported huge losses from the cancellation of government banquets. “Normally， business banquets account for 80 percent of our revenue at the end of each year， but the wave of cancellations has cast a big shadow on our business，” a manager of a luxury restaurant in Haikou told Peoples Daily.

The China Cuisine Association said that most restaurant owners are predicting a grim year for 2013. About one third estimated that the growth rate would slip below 10 percent.

However， Jiang Mingan， an anti-graft expert from Peking University， warned that despite the Central Governments orders urging frugality， some officials are able to create fake spending invoices to escape supervision. “The only measure that could prevent them from overspending or abusing their privileges would be to make public spending transparent，” he said.

Zhang Zhixin， a professor of public management at the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing， said that stricter rules are essential to curbing extravagance.

“We should try to eliminate undocumented spending by tightening our budgetary rules. By doing so corruption and unnecessary banquets can be avoided，” Zhang said.