"In the past, grain was narrowly understood as rice, wheat, corn and other gramineous crops. Now, grain is food, and the concept of large grain has replaced the old concept of taking grain as the key link."

This is a passage from the book "Getting rid of poverty". The author is Xi Jinping, who was then the secretary of the local Party committee of Ningde, Fujian.

In 1990, Xi Jinping used the "big food concept" to explain that the concept of agricultural development needs to be changed. Over the past 30 years, China's economic and social development has undergone tremendous changes, and General Secretary Xi Jinping's thinking on the concept of big food has become more profound.

What is the big food concept? It can be understood by observing the Chinese table.

Three meals and four seasons, north of the south meter, the big food view, first of all, to secure the job.

China has a population of more than 1.4 billion and consumes 700000 tons of grain, 98000 tons of oil, 1.92 million tons of vegetables and 230000 tons of meat every day.

"If there is a problem in agriculture, people will take their jobs and eat according to others' faces. What else can we talk about modernization?" Xi Jinping once used this to warn of the special importance of food security for the development of large countries.

With food in hand and calm in heart, it is truth at all times. Especially at the moment, when the world is facing multiple challenges such as the food crisis, it is of more profound significance to secure the jobs of Chinese people.

In March this year, during his inspection in Hunan, Xi Jinping once again stressed that food security must be guaranteed by ourselves, and Chinese people's jobs should mainly be filled with Chinese food.

By 2023, China's grain production has achieved "20 consecutive harvests". During the two sessions of the National People's Congress this year, China set the annual goal of "grain output of more than 1.3 trillion kg" again.

Nowadays, on the Chinese table, the dietary characteristics of staple food and non-staple food are becoming more and more prominent. The concept of "big food" emphasizes not only the management of food, but also the management of food.

"The people's food needs have become more diverse, which requires us to change our minds". In December 2017, Xi Jinping said at the Central Rural Work Conference that we need heat and protein from cultivated land, grasslands, forests, oceans, plants, animals and microorganisms, and develop food resources in an all-round way.

Indeed, to solve the food problem, we should not only focus on the limited farmland, but also open our minds.

During the National Two Sessions in 2022, Xi Jinping said that while ensuring food supply, we should ensure the effective supply of meat, vegetables, fruits, aquatic products and other kinds of food.

At the Central Rural Work Conference that year, he explained more vividly that "eating" is not just about food consumption, but meat, eggs, milk, fruit, vegetable, fish, mushrooms and bamboo shoots are all delicacies, and emphasized "building a diversified food supply system".

Of course, whether you are satisfied or well fed, the big food concept is ultimately for the people at the table, and it is the people centered development concept.

In recent years, Xi Jinping has paid more attention to the agricultural industrialization in the fields, and more attention to the happiness of farmers.

Watching mariculture on Guangdong Donghai Island, he said that it is very important to improve the physical quality of our people, improve aquatic products and protein.

In the pomegranate plantation in Zaozhuang, Shandong Province, he requested to do a good job in brand, improve quality, extend the industrial chain, enhance the competitiveness of the industrial market and comprehensive benefits, and drive more villagers to become rich together.

When the visitor from Guangxi inspected the sugar manufacturing process, he told the employees that sugar is an important non-staple food, and everyone worked hard to deliver "sweetness" to thousands of families.

At the Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of last year, it was required to establish the concept of "big agriculture" and "big food", and turn agriculture into a modern industry. Three months later, during his investigation in Hunan, Xi Jinping again stressed that "we should adhere to the concept of big agriculture and big food, actively develop characteristic agriculture and agricultural product processing industry, and improve the level of agricultural industrialization."

More than 1.4 billion mouths need to eat, which is China's national condition. Close to the dining table, thousands of families are connected at one end, and the vast mountains and rivers are connected at the other end. Food, rice, cooking oil, salt, and three meals a day are both domestic and national affairs.