Timeline of food and nutrition in China

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Time period Development summary
"In 1949 population growth and food demands alongside an inadequate food supply created a crisis. In response China implemented a series of policies to improve living standards. In agriculture the government eliminated the private land ownership and undertook a major land redistribution in rural areas, followed later by agricultural collectivization."[1] "The price system for major foods has been controlled by the government since the 1950s."[2] The policy of state monopoly for purchasing and marketing grain helped the Chinese people to survive serious natural disasters in the early 1960s."[2] ". Since the late 70's and early 80’s, many Chinese medical schools have offered Chinese nutrition courses. Some have even set up Nutrition Departments. Thousands of professional Chinese nutritionists provide services in hospitals, factories, schools, and restaurants. At the same time, many new Chinese food supplements and nutrition products have flooded into the market."[3] "Since the 1980s, the nutrition transition in China has been rapidly occurring as the political and economic climates evolve."[4]
" Nutritional improvement was uneven, including increased undernutrition in the 1959–1962 period and a remarkable rebound and continued improvement thereafter."[1]

Full timeline

Year Event type Details
1766BC–1154BC "Historical records indicated that in the early Shang Dynasty (1766-1154 BC), people cooked herbs to treat diseases. Yi Yin invented cooking wares and soup and broth making techniques. According to legend, Yi Yin also developed the herbal decoction technique of treating diseases. Our ancestors took advantage of the medicinal qualities of food to prevent and treat disease."[3]
1122BC–721BC "In the imperial palace of the West Zhou Dynasty (1122-721BC), “Food Doctors” selected and prepared meals for Kings, using vegetables, fruits, grains, poultry, meats, herbs, and other ingredients. The thought was to make food that was both delicious and health preserving. At that time, “Food doctors” had higher status than “disease doctors” (Internists) and “Carbuncle Doctors” (Surgeons). Theses “Food doctors” were the first professional nutritionists."[3]
c.1000BC "Native to China, the Chinese first cultivated the wild soybean 3,000 years ago."[5]
403BC-221BC "Doctors in the period of Warring States (403-221 BC) paid much attention to nutrition and food therapy. Bian Que, a well known Doctor of that period said, “As a Doctor, one should investigate the origin of, and pathological changes created by diseases and then treat the patient with food. If food does not cure the disorders, then medicine is given. This important advice has influenced succeeding generations of Physicians."[3]
221BC-220AD "Written about 2,000 years ago during the Qin (221-216 BC) and Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), “Shen Nong’s Classic of Medicinal Herbs” is recognized as the first Chinese materia medica. This text includes references to many grains, fruits, herbs, fishes, poultry and other meats as well as minerals. Dates, sesame seeds, grapes, walnuts, lotus seeds (Lian Zi), Chinese yams, beans, scallions, honeys, and salt are examples of substances recognized as having medicinal qualities. Zhang Zhong Jing a preeminent Chinese medical sage, recounted his experiences in using rice and other foods with medicinal herbs in his book - “A Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases”. His “angelica, ginger and lamb broth” is still popular today."[3]
25Ad–220AD "The excavated Han Dynasty (A.D. 25-220) tomb revealed a stone slab with a mural featuring a kitchen scene which illustrates the making of soy milk and tofu."[5]
670AD-907AD "During the Tang Dynasty (670-907AD), Sun Si Miao listed over 154 foods in this book - “Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Talents of Gold”. He said, “Food can expel pathogens and protect the internal organs, make people happy, and benefits the Qi and blood. A good Doctor explores the origins of a disease and and its pathogenesis, then prescribes foods to treat the patient. Medicine should be used only if food therapy fails. His student Meng Xian wrote the book, “Nourishing Recipes” in which he increased the number of foods to 241. Zhang Ding Meng’s student revised this book and named it "Dietetic Materia Medica”, Hhis was the first Chinese book on dietetic therapies and actions of foods, cooking techniques, along with dietary principles discussed."[3]
960 AD–1278 AD "During the Song Dynasty (960-1278 AD), the government ordered medical officials Wang Huan Yin et al to compile “Peaceful Holy Benevolent Prescriptions”, which listed dietetic therapies for 28 diseases. Around the same time, Chen Zhi’s book, “Care of Aged Parents,” listed 162 dietetic recipes for older people"[3]
1206 AD–1341 AD "Dietetic therapy reached a peak during the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1341 AD). Huo Si Hui wrote “The Principles of Nutrition and Dietetic Therapy”, Based on his experiences as a nutritionist for the emperor and his family, he described 94 courses of food including such factors as types of foods which balance each other and the order in which foods are served, 35 kinds of soup, and 29 recipes for longevity. He also discussed the toxicity of foods and dietary hygiene. This was the first complete, systematic book on Chinese nutrition and dietetic therapy."[3]
1368 AD–1644 AD "The Ming (1368-1644 AD) Dynasties saw an even deeper understanding of nutrition and dietetic therapy developed. The great Physician and naturalist Li Shi Zhen (1518-1593 AD) wrote “Compendium of The Materia Medica” a monumental work listing many dietary therapy recipes which placed most foods in the pharmacopeia. At the same time, many nutrition and diet therapy books such as Lu he’s “A Dietary Material Medica”, Bao Sagan’s “The Collection of Vegetables” and Wang Shixiong, “A Collection of Recipes in Leisure Residence”, were published. All of theses texts discussed the properties, actions and indications of foods, and dietary structure, from different angles."[3]
1949 "Shortly after the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, a nationwide agrarian reform to abolish the feudal system of landownership was implemented over a three-year period. After the land redistribution, peasants found great incentives to accelerate agricultural production. Both the total production and per caput consumption of major food items increased steadily until 1957 (State Statistics Bureau, 1991),"[2] " China’s gross domestic product (GDP) was US$60 per capita (1990 dollars) in 1949, about half the average of Asian countries, compared with US$600 per capita (1990 dollars) in 1840. In 1949 total mortality rates, infant mortality rates, and maternal mortality rates were 30 per 1,000; 200 per 1,000; and 1,500 per 100,000, respectively. Life expectancy was only 35 years. Hundreds of thousands of people died of hunger."[1]
1949–1957 "Cereal consumption increased from 1949 through 1957. It dropped to its lowest level in 1962, following a period of economic experimentation that did not meet its agricultural target and actually led to major declines in food production and nutritional status, and then slowly recovered and reached its highest level in 1982. "[1]
1952 "Cereal consumption, already high, increased from 541.2 grams per day (70.0% coarse grains) in 1952 to 645.9 grams per day (15.9% coarse grains) in 1992."[1]
1952 "In 1952, 88.2% of the Chinese population farmed. Without advanced technology and fertilizers, farming required tremendous amounts of time and labor. The major transportation mode was walking. There was no electricity, and there were no televisions, no private cars, few public buses, and few bicycles."[1]
1953 "In the early period of New China3 the level of grain production was very low, and resolving the problem of increases in demand and shortages in supply became the great challenge for the government. To solve the problem of supplying grain, especially to poor people, a state monopoly for purchasing and marketing grain was implemented nationally by the end of 1953, replacing free trade of grain and oil. The peasants' surplus grain was purchased by the government at a fixed price and then sold to urban residents and grain-deficient rural households at a low price."[2]
1955 "In 1955, the State Council formulated special policies on grain processing and instituted a rationing system (Editorial Committee of Today's China series, 1988b). According to a quota determined by age, occupation and intensity of labour by the urban individual, coupons for grain are provided each month to all urban households. This approach has been significant in meeting the essential need for grain. Moderate refining of grain has been highly encouraged in grain processing. The well-known "81 flour" (81 kg flour produced from 100 kg wheat) and "92 rice" (92 kg rice produced from 100 kg unpolished rice) are examples of maximized utilization of grain to meet the nutritional requirements of the population."[2]
1961 ". In 1961, the grain output was only 143,5 million tonnes, a figure similar to that of 1951."[2]
1962 "Cereal consumption increased from 1949 through 1957. It dropped to its lowest level in 1962, following a period of economic experimentation that did not meet its agricultural target and actually led to major declines in food production and nutritional status, and then slowly recovered and reached its highest level in 1982. "[1]
1978 "What is significant in China is the buying power enjoyed by children as the result of the one-child policy instituted in 1978, whereby the only child is constantly lavished with care by his or her parents and grandparents."[4]
1979 " In 1979 China implemented major land, social, and economic reforms. The country’s economy and agricultural productivity changed greatly after this time."[1]
1981 " In 1981, the State Council announced that "prioritizing grain production and actively promoting a diversified agro-economy" would be the principle for adjusting the structure of agriculture. The importance of coordinated development of forestry, animal husbandry and aquatic production in association with agriculture was emphasized. Land that had been inappropriately developed for crops was returned to other uses. The area planted in crops decreased from almost 115 million hectares in 1981 to about 113.5 million hectares in 1990; the rate of decrease was 1.3 percent. "[2]
1982 "Overweight emerged only after 1982"[1]
1982 "Cereal consumption increased from 1949 through 1957. It dropped to its lowest level in 1962, following a period of economic experimentation that did not meet its agricultural target and actually led to major declines in food production and nutritional status, and then slowly recovered and reached its highest level in 1982. "[1]
1982 "The national average intake of energy slightly decreased from 2485 to 2328 kcal/caput/day between 1982 and 1992 and this is probably due to the more sedentary lifestyle of the population. "[6]
1982–1992 "Between 1982 and 1992, there was a reduction in the intake of all major food groups except for meat, fish, milk and milk products, eggs and oils and fats. As a consequence, there has been an increase in the share of protein and fat in total energy intake from 10.8% to 11.8% for protein and from 18.4% to 22.0% for fat."[6]
1987 "Since 1987 the government has followed a strategy for agricultural development known as "promoting agriculture by sciences and technology". A large number of scientists have been sent to the countryside to offer technical assistance in the use of advanced methods for production of grain, cotton, edible oil, livestock and fish (He, 1991). The state increased the utilization of chemical fertilizer, agricultural machinery and irrigation, trained agricultural technicians and popularized advanced techniques. It is estimated that 30 to 40 percent of the total increase in agricultural production is attributable to science and technology."[2]
1988 "In 1988, a national project to promote the production of non-staple food and secure the market supply (known informally as the "Food-Basket Project") was proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture and approved by the State Council. The project has been implemented nationwide and remarkable improvements in production, marketing and consumption of non-staple foods have been made."[2]
1988 "Because of escalating production costs, the purchasing price of farm and farm-related products was raised systematically so that the purchasing price index had risen by 14.5 percent by 1988. "[2]
1990 "In 1990 the total amounts of meat, eggs, milk and fish produced were 28.57, 7.94, 4.75 and 12.37 million tonnes, respectively. These outputs represent increases of 48,3 percent, 48.6 percent, 64,2 percent and 75,5 percent, respectively, over 1985 production (State Statistics Bureau, 1991). The increases allowed a substantial improvement in the dietary patterns of urban and rural people. The annual per caput supply of meat, eggs and aquatic products was 13 kg higher in 1990 than in 1984"[2]
1990 "In 1990, the State Council set up a national specific grain reserve to improve the system gradually at the national, provincial, municipal and autonomous-region levels. All the farmers' surplus grain (that remaining after the contracted purchase) that is not absorbed by the market is purchased. A protective minimum price is established for the benefit of the peasants (People's Daily, 1991). A leading group is responsible for the overall planning and managing of national specific grain reserve matters, and the Bureau of the Grain Reserve was initiated for national grain management. This system allows the state to purchase grain through the specific reserve as well as contracting and solves the peasants' problem of selling surplus grain after a bumper harvest (People's Dally, 1991). Because of this specific grain reserve, the supply of staples was basically guaranteed for areas of China that were flooded in 1991."[2]
1991 " In April 1991, the National Program for Ten-Year Planning of the National Economy and Social Development and the Eighth Five-Year Plan were issued by the Chinese Government. These pointed to goals for the year 2000: "Based on the increase of income of the inhabitants, the food consumption of urban and rural people will be further raised in both quality and quantity, and the consumption of meat, eggs, milk, aquatic products and fruits will rise to some extent..." Here nutritional status has been officially incorporated into the national economic and social development plan."[2]
1992 "Cereal consumption, already high, increased from 541.2 grams per day (70.0% coarse grains) in 1952 to 645.9 grams per day (15.9% coarse grains) in 1992." "Of the grains consumed in 1992, 15.9% were coarse grains (e.g., corn, millet, oatmeal), down from 50.4% in 1978 and 70.0% in 1952."[1] "The findings from the 28 provinces surveyed in 1992 showed that the average daily per capita energy intake varied from 1913 kcal in Hainan to 2720 kcal in Anhui."[6]
2000 Literature "Feeding China’s Little Emperors, a collection of papers compiled by anthropologist Jun Jing, explores the dietary patterns of children growing up in the post-Mao transition to a market economy, where children dictated up to 70% of a family’s spending. For the first time in Chinese history, children were able to express preferences for different foods instead of merely accepting what was presented to them on the dining table. Food companies in China and abroad started to target both youths and the financially secure parents who wanted to give their children the best. Many children in wealthy urban areas developed preferences for fast foods and processed foods instead of the traditional Chinese cuisine, leading to an increased prevalence of childhood obesity."[4]
2003–2005 " in 2003-2005, 120 million Chinese from poor areas were undernourished."[7]
2005 Aquaculture: China reports harvesting 32.4 million tons, more than 10 times that of the second-ranked nation, India, which reported 2.8 million tons.[8]

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References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Du, Shufa; Wang, Huijun; Zhang, Bing; Zhai, Fengying; Popkin, Barry M. "China in the period of transition from scarcity and extensive undernutrition to emerging nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases, 1949–1992". PMID 24341754. doi:10.1111/obr.12122. Retrieved 11 September 2019. 
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 "Food consumption and nutritional status in China". fao.org. Retrieved 11 September 2019. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 "The History Of Chinese Nutrition". koosacupuncture.com. Retrieved 11 September 2019. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Nutrition Transition in Chinese Communities". todaysdietitian.com. Retrieved 11 September 2019. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 "The Story of Soy: From Wild Vine to Soy Burger.". eatingchina.com. Retrieved 11 September 2019. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 "China". fao.org. Retrieved 11 September 2019. 
  7. "China: Improving nutrition and food safety for China's most vulnerable women and children". mdgfund.org. Retrieved 11 September 2019. 
  8. FAO Fact sheet: Aquaculture in China and Asia