Growing public awareness against food waste in China

BEIJING - A recent survey conducted by the China Youth Daily showed a general trend of increasing public awareness against food waste in China.

Of the 1,149 respondents, about 71 percent said they felt a stronger sense of preventing food waste among the public, according to the survey, citing a waitress, pseudonymously called Lin Huiwen, who witnessed more and more customers voluntarily asking for packaging their unfinished dishes.

The restaurant also requires its waiters and waitresses to remind customers to order on a reasonable basis to curb food waste, Lin added in the survey.

More than 65 percent of the respondents said they would practice "Clean Your Plate," and approximately 64 percent would order and buy food based on their actual needs.

He Dongcan, a senior student at a Beijing-based university, proposed that the key to reducing food waste is driving home to people the importance of national food security while punishing food wastage is also necessary.

Chinese lawmakers voted to adopt the anti-food waste law at a session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the top legislature, in late April. The law has gone into effect on the date of promulgation.