Song Jianxiao: Practice the Greater Food Approach and Build a Diversified Food Supply System
People regard food as their primary need [1]. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has always treated resolving the problem of feeding a population of over one billion as the top priority of national governance.
The 2015 Central Rural Work Conference proposed that we "must establish the concepts of big agriculture and big food." The 2016 Central Document No. 1 [2] emphasized "establishing a 'big food' view" (大食物观) and treated it as an important component of optimizing the structure of agricultural production and regional layouts. The report to the 20th CPC National Congress emphasized: "Establish a 'big food' view, develop facility agriculture [3], and build a diversified food supply system." The Recommendations of the CPC Central Committee for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, deliberated and adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, proposed to persist in the simultaneous development of farming, forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries, develop modern facility agriculture, and build a diversified food supply system. Establishing and practicing the "big food" view and building a diversified food supply system is an inevitable requirement for better meeting the people's needs for a better life. It is conducive to accelerating the construction of a strong agricultural country and holds significant importance for advancing Chinese-path modernization.
As China's economy develops, the nutritional needs of the people have become increasingly diversified, comprehensive, and balanced. With the upgrading of the dietary structure of urban and rural residents, the demand for food has gradually shifted from "having enough to eat" to "eating well" and "eating healthily." Food nutrition, health, and green, pollution-free products have become priority considerations for many consumers, with an increasing number of people focusing on food production processes, processing methods, and storage conditions. Data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs shows that since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan, 36,000 new products have been certified as green, organic, famous, high-quality, new, or geographical indication agricultural products, covering categories such as rice, flour, oil, meat, eggs, milk, fruits, vegetables, tea, and aquatic products. Every year, more than 200 million tons of high-quality green agricultural products are provided to society. In 2024, sales of green food reached 609.78 billion yuan, driving agricultural production steadily toward standardization, greening, and high-quality development.
In recent years, China's grain production has seen consecutive years of bumper harvests; the "rice bag" [4] is fuller, and the "vegetable basket" [5] is more abundant. However, from the perspective of the relationship between supply and demand, grain production and demand remain overall in a state of "tight balance." On one hand, there are structural shortage contradictions in grain supply and demand. While China's per capita grain consumption level is generally stable, the rapid improvement in living standards has led to an increasing demand for high-quality grain. Consumption of staple food grain is gradually declining, while consumption of meat, eggs, milk, fruits, vegetables, tea, and aquatic products continues to grow. The increase in the consumption of animal-based foods has driven up the demand for feed grain, yet gaps remain between production and demand for corn and soybeans, and the self-sufficiency rate for soybean oilseeds remains relatively low. On the other hand, the problem of regional imbalance in grain supply and demand persists. The grain output of the 13 major grain-producing areas has accounted for about 78% of the national total for many years, but the grain self-sufficiency rate in major marketing areas and production-marketing balanced areas continues to decline. From the perspective of resource endowment, China's total agricultural production resources are large, but the per capita share is low, and resource constraints are obvious. The results of the Third National Land Survey showed that at the end of 2019, China's arable land area was 1.918 billion mu [6], with a per capita arable land area of 1.36 mu, less than 40% of the world average. Arable land is divided into 10 grades based on quality; the current average grade is 4.76, with low-grade arable land accounting for 22%, indicating an overall low level of quality. With the rapid advancement of industrialization and urbanization, the phenomenon of illegal and irregular occupation of arable land occurs in some places, and practical problems such as the "non-agriculturalization" [7] and "non-grainization" [8] of arable land remain prominent.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "To solve the problem of eating, we cannot just stare at limited arable land; we must open up our thinking and establish a 'big food' view." The "big food" view reflects the enrichment, innovation, and the spirit of advancing with the times regarding the concept of shifting from "grain" to "food." It emphasizes the transformation of food supply from single-source production to diversified supply. While ensuring grain supply, it seeks food from forests, grasslands, rivers, lakes, and seas; seeks food from facility agriculture; and seeks calories and protein from plants, animals, and microorganisms, thereby expanding direct and indirect food sources and achieving a balance between supply and demand for all types of food. The "big food" view requires fully developing the multiple functions of agriculture, extending the food industry chain, enhancing the value chain, and building the supply chain to construct a diversified food supply system that coordinates grain, cash crops, and feed; combines farming, forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries; and develops plants, animals, and microorganisms simultaneously. Deeply practicing the "big food" view and developing diversified food supply channels are important measures to effectively alleviate pressure on resources and the environment and better meet the needs of residents' upgraded food consumption. Efforts can be made in the following areas:
First, develop food resources through multiple channels. Optimize the planting structure of arable land, improve the efficiency of land use, strengthen the construction of high-standard cropland, and promote large-scale yield increases for major crops such as grain and oil, thereby consolidating the foundation for the supply of grain and important agricultural products. Fully tap into agricultural production potential, promote the coordination of grain, cash crops, and feed and the simultaneous development of farming, forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries. Vigorously develop the forage industry, deep-sea aquaculture, economic forests, and the under-forest economy [9], and promote the construction of the entire agricultural industrial chain to broaden food sources through multiple channels.
Second, promote technological innovation to enhance the quality and efficiency of food development. Strengthen original research, study new food resource development and digital monitoring technologies, and accelerate the application of frontier technologies such as synthetic biotechnology and microbiomics to promote the deep integration of technology and the development of the food industry. For example, develop new types of protein and functional foods through synthetic biotechnology and use microbial protein to replace feed ingredients such as soybean meal. Deeply implement the Seed Industry Revitalization Action and build a seed industry innovation system compatible with food development. Promote the development of facility agriculture and smart agriculture, increasing yield per unit area through technologies such as automated irrigation and precision fertilization. Simultaneously, combine technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and artificial intelligence to build a smart agriculture system, using IoT sensors to monitor the farmland environment and providing scientific basis for agricultural production decisions through big data analysis. Strengthen technological innovation in food processing and circulation to build a whole-industry chain from the field to the table and reduce losses.
Third, strengthen cooperation and exchange with countries worldwide in the field of agriculture. Actively participate in global food security governance, promote the implementation of cooperation projects such as agricultural technical assistance and food aid, and work with all countries to jointly address global food security challenges. Promote the diversification of import channels, optimize the layout of the global supply chain, and deepen agricultural product trade cooperation through the construction of overseas agricultural cooperation demonstration zones to enhance import stability. Strengthen exchanges in agricultural technological achievements and management experience to promote agricultural technological innovation and application. Further deepen international agricultural cooperation, encourage and support enterprises to invest in and construct agricultural projects overseas, and cultivate multinational agricultural enterprise groups with global competitiveness to enhance China's initiative in the global allocation of agricultural resources.