Officials hold 24-hr fast

Government officials and people around the country joined in a fast after the State Administration of Grain proposed government employees experience famine by going a day without food on the World Food Day (WFD), which fell on Tuesday.

Officials and employees with local food authorities in provinces including Hunan and Sichuan took part in the campaign. Although the administration said a UN official had inspired it to run the campaign and was doing it to raise public awareness of food security and waste problems, public opinions were mixed. Some welcomed it as a government gesture to show determination in its fight against famine and food insecurity, while others dismissed it as nothing but a show.

"Although China has had ample grain harvests several years in a row, we'd still like people to join us and make an effort to save grain," said the proposal, published on the administration's website on Monday. The campaign, which was voluntary, encouraged people to forego food for 24 hours on Tuesday.

"Our cafeteria was closed today to encourage employees to join in this campaign, and I've had no food since this morning," a media officer with the administration told the Global Times Tuesday. The campaign was not compulsory but many of his colleagues were willing to participate, he added.

The director and deputy director of the Hunan provincial grain administration also took part in a week-long activity in Shandong yesterday to celebrate the World Food Day. Most of the Chengdu municipal grain administration joined in the fast as their cafeteria closed temporarily on Tuesday.

Some Web users say the campaign was a show to make the government look good, and said they would prefer the officials "remain full so that they can do their work well."

"I don't think China is faced with a food crisis. But the campaign is good since many people don't see the problems we have in the agricultural industry, and the fact that in some places people are still starving or do not have nutritious food," said Dang Guoying, a professor at the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

China maintains a balance in grain imports and exports, Dang said, but some of its agricultural products are not competitive enough compared with countries such as the US. "China has a lot of successful experiences to share with other developing countries on grain issues. For example, we have a large population but limited farmland, and our market-oriented agriculture economy," he noted.

Almost 870 million people were chronically undernourished between 2010 and 2012, according to the UN World Food Programme.