General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "food security is a fundamental issue related to human survival, and reducing food loss is an important way to ensure food security." Saving food covers a series of major food products such as staple food, vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, milk, and aquatic products. According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the total grain output in 2023 will be 139082 million jin, an increase of 17.76 billion jin over the previous year, and the grain output will hit a new record high again, stabilizing at more than 1.3 trillion jin for nine consecutive years. Since grain output has steadily increased year after year, why should we emphasize grain conservation so much? It should be recognized that grain conservation is an eternal virtue and requirement. In the past, we should be thrifty when grain was in short supply, but now we should also be thrifty when increasing grain production and harvesting.

Saving food is conducive to the sustainable use of resources. The production links of all kinds of food that appear on our table every day are closely related to a series of resources such as water, land, air, energy and labor, which have an important impact on the economic and social operation. The fact that the per capita share of resources is not high determines that China's grain production faces multiple constraints. For China, a country with a large population, saving food means saving resources, and wasting food means wasting resources. Saving food is conducive to promoting the sustainable use of resources, which is an integral part of building a resource-saving and environment-friendly society, and is of great significance to the sustainable development of the Chinese nation.

Saving food will help ensure the overall social harmony and stability. Food security is a strategic issue. In recent years, affected by global epidemics and frequent local conflicts in many places, food shortage has once again become the focus of the international community. In some countries and regions, a large number of people are facing the serious threat of food shortage, even the shortage of staple food. One of the important reasons why China can maintain social stability and public stability in the changing international situation is that we have food in hand and we are not panicked. To achieve the goal of always having food in hand, we should not only ensure the stock and increase the increment, but also make great efforts to reduce the loss of food and save the food that should be saved and can be saved. Only in this way can we protect our "food bag", firmly hold the job in our hands, and always maintain social harmony and stability.

Saving food is beneficial to improving people's quality of life. With the continuous development of the economy and the remarkable improvement of people's living standards, today, there are more and more kinds of food available for Chinese residents to choose and consume. At present, the supply of energy, protein and fat for Chinese residents is on the increase, and the daily supply of protein, fat and the energy supply ratio of dietary fat per capita continue to rise. The people's demand for green and healthy diet is becoming more and more urgent. How to eat well and eat healthily has become a topic of common concern for millions of households. Advocating food conservation and opposing food waste will not affect people's quality of life, but will be beneficial to creating a frugal diet culture in the whole society, helping people develop a healthy and civilized lifestyle, and playing an important leading and promoting role in continuously improving people's quality of life.

The problem of food waste is hidden and repeated to a certain extent. A little relaxation and paralysis will revive. To stop food waste, we need to adhere to the problem orientation, accurately identify the areas and links where food waste is prone to occur, frequently occurring, and frequently occurring, and make accurate pulse taking and targeted inquiry.

In the production process, due to improper handling of grain after harvest and other factors, the problem of loss is more prominent. For example, for grain, it faces mechanical damage, loss caused by harvesting, scattering and leakage in the production link, and loss caused by mildew or rodent damage in the storage link.

In the transportation link, affected by factors such as distance and cost, fresh fruits are prone to corruption and deterioration during transportation. In addition, excessive picking in the later period will also lead to loss.

In the consumption link, compared with the past, the phenomenon of extravagance, extravagance, extravagance and waste in catering consumption has changed significantly, but there is still food waste in the ordering of takeout and dinner parties.

In addition, in the supply and demand link of the market, the supply and demand are not completely matched due to the planting and breeding structure problems in some places, which will also cause a certain degree of waste.

To promote food conservation, the direct focus is on life and the tip of the tongue. At the same time, it is a systematic project that covers a wide range of areas and requires multiple efforts. We must adhere to systematic thinking and achieve overall planning and coordinated promotion.

Give full play to the role of system guarantee and incentive. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, our party has focused on strengthening the top-level design of food safety, giving full play to the role of systems and mechanisms, leading and encouraging the whole society to participate in the action of saving food and combating waste. A series of important mechanisms and measures have been taken, including the formulation of the eight central regulations and their implementation rules, the introduction of the Regulations of the Party and Government Organs on Practicing Thrift and Combating Waste, the introduction of the anti food waste law, the issuance of the Food Saving Action Plan, and the issuance of the Anti food Waste Work Plan. These measures have provided a strong guarantee and strong joint force for strengthening food loss reduction and curbing food waste.

Empower grain conservation with technological innovation. Adhere to innovation driven, vigorously promote the research, development and application of grain loss reduction facilities and equipment, and focus on improving the construction level of refrigeration and fresh-keeping facilities in major grain production areas. With the concerted efforts of relevant departments, the "grain safety project", "grain depot intelligent upgrading" and other projects have been implemented successively. With strong technical support, the risk of grain loss in grain depot has been effectively controlled, and the comprehensive loss rate of grain in the storage cycle has been significantly reduced. In addition, some places comprehensively use big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies to grasp the market demand of grain products in real time, so as to better meet consumer demand and promote the precise connection between supply and demand of grain products.

Pay attention to giving play to the role of culture as a stylized person. In recent years, many places have strengthened the education and guidance of saving food and cherishing food, so that the public can really understand the difficult process of food production; Connect the emotion of food with nostalgia, and add cultural connotation to food saving. Some places combine conservation culture with public welfare culture. By exploring mechanisms such as "food bank", they guide food retailers and catering operators to donate surplus food or provide lower price meal services for groups in need. While better meeting the catering consumption needs of different social groups, they strive to create a rational and appropriate healthy consumption culture, It has set a correct direction for promoting economic and social development with the spirit of diligence and thrift.

(The author stops left and is a professor of the School of Humanities and Development, China Agricultural University)