Qi Haoran, a Junior 1 student at High School Attached to Harbin Institute of Technology, was quite busy over the past winter vacation—and not just with homework. Qi, together with 10 other classmates made a volunteer group to call on people to join the Clean Your Plate Campaign (光盘行动).
The 11 students went to many restaurants and told people the importance of saving food. "Excuse me, do you know that 950 million people around the world still haven't got enough to eat? Could you please not waste food?"They would say this kind of thing hundreds of times every day.
China in recent years has experienced serious problems with wasted food. CCTV reported in January that the food Chinese people waste every year is enough to feed 200 million people for a year. It's a tradition that Chinese people offer lots of food when they invite others to dinner. Many even feel that they will lose face if their guests have eaten all their food.
Luckily the campaign has got the support of many. In a restaurant in Xinjiang, the owner gives the guests who have eaten up all that they ordered a sticker. People can enjoy a free meal when they have 10 stickers. More than 750 restaurants in Beijing have begun to offer smaller dishes and encourage their guests to take leftovers(剩饭剩菜) home.
Wasting food is a serious problem around the world, not only in China. It's said that 2 billion tons(吨) of food ends up as waste every year in our country. This is as much as half of all the food in the world. The UN Environment Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization held a"Think, Eat, Save" program on January 24 to help reduce food waste.
To reduce food waste is a big task, and it needs time. It's important that everyone does their bit, just like Qi. Did you finish your meals today?
