In the cafeteria at Hengyang No. 1 Middle School in Hunan Province, new banners (条幅) are put up: Who knows that each bowl of rice is the fruit of hard toil (谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦)?Clear your plate; refuse to waste food.
This is part of a nationwide campaign to cut down on food waste in China. The cafeteria's manager told Hengyang News that they used to waste 100 kg of food every day. But this amount has dropped by 75percent, as students are encouraged to take just the amount of food they need.
Many restaurants in China are also joining in. They encourage people to order dishes using the "N-1'formula(公式). "N' stands for the number of diners at a table . So if there are six people at your table, you should order just five dishes. If people can't finish their meals , they are encouraged to take the leftovers(剩菜) home.
In fact, food waste has been a big problem for a long time around the world. According to a study by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese restaurants wasted 17 to 18 million tons of food a year from 2013 to 2015. That could feed 30 to 50 million people for a whole year. The UN says there are 820 million people around the world who live in hunger.
By cutting down on food waste, we could help put food on the empty plates of many hungry people.
