At East China University of Science and Technology, students will get a coupon(优惠券) if they eat up their food. Students can collect coupons and exchange them for small gifts, such as books, magazines, mobile phone covers and hand warmers.
“It's been such a surprise”, said Liang zhaoyun,19, a student at the university in Shanghai. It has given us one more motivation to finish our food.”
The measure is part of a national 'eat—up' campaign(运动) which is organized by students to deal with food waste on campuses.
Why only on campuses, you might ask. Because according to a report by Xinhua News Agency, students waste twice as much food as the national average.
The campaign on campus food waste is receiving attention across the country.
The aim of the campaign is not only to encourage students to finish their food. We hope it can also encourage students to choose a more environment–friendly and healthy lifestyle,” said Tao Siliang, secretary(秘书) of the Youth League Committee at Shanghai University.
But some school food is poorly prepared, so students do not like to finish it all. Some schools have taken notice of this and they are taking measures to improve it.
“I'm glad that we've reduced food waste since the ‘eat—up' campaign began. But if we call on students to waste less food, we should also improve the service and food standard on campuses.” said Tao.