On January 8, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs held a national long-distance training on the prevention and control of African swine fever. Yu Kangzhen, the vice minister of the Ministry, said that it was necessary to "eliminate the use of kitchen residues to feed pigs". Prior to this, the head of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau of the Ministry said that one of the reasons for the occurrence of African swine fever in China was the use of kitchen residues in the feeding process.
China has always been a major producer of food waste. As early as 2015, the average daily output of food waste in China reached 250000 tons, and the per capita daily output was 0.18kg.
Many people will think that food waste is "leftover" and does not contain any toxic and corrosive substances, which has little impact on the environment, but in fact it is not. Food waste is characterized by high moisture content and high organic content, especially with the improvement of material life, food waste today includes meat, eggs, milk and other foods with high protein content. These food wastes are very easy to decay and deteriorate. They not only give off an unpleasant smell, but also breed mosquitoes and microorganisms.
In early years, food waste was used as animal feed, but the resulting disease risk also exists. It is unlikely that animals can bear the food that humans can eat and the bacteria that can be tolerated, just like the cause of the African swine fever epidemic. At present, food waste is mostly incinerated or buried, and the resulting air impact and land occupation problems cannot be underestimated. It is undeniable that food waste can be recycled, but as far as the effect of recycling at this stage is concerned, whether it is converted to biogas or refined with biodiesel, its cost is not low, and its profit margin is limited. Many projects need to rely on related subsidies to maintain.
In other words, food waste is not a "valuable resource", but less energy. In other words, the key to control food waste is to reduce the output of food waste. Generally speaking, food waste is divided into food waste and kitchen waste. The former comes from restaurants and the latter comes from families. In terms of total amount, the former is far more than the latter. This is because most of the household cooking is done according to their own ability, and most of the kitchen waste is leftovers, while the waste of food and beverage still exists. Previously, it was a delicacy on the table, and immediately became worthless "swill" after leaving the house. Some consumers even have a bad attitude: I spend money to buy, and waste is just my own business. However, the irreversible impact of food and beverage waste on the environment cannot be compensated by "spending money".
To reduce catering waste, on the one hand, it is necessary to promote the correct catering culture to the public. The CD is not extravagant, and consumers should be guided to consciously reduce waste. On the other hand, it is also necessary to guide and encourage catering enterprises to adjust the food structure. Nowadays, the family size is small, and it is not uncommon for one person to consume. Consumers enter restaurants more for the purpose of "tasting food" than "eating enough". Catering enterprises may as well introduce some exquisite "small dishes" and "half dishes" to meet the needs of consumers while also contributing to environmental protection.
(The article in this column was originally published by China Industrial Network. If it is reproduced by online media, the source must be indicated as "China Industrial Network". If it is reproduced by print media, it must be authorized by China Industrial Network.)
