Ask Mang | What does the Chinese food guide really say about meat consumption?
** “Ask Mang” is the China Vegan Society's Q&A series. "Mang" is the Romanization of 茻, the Chinese character which the China Vegan Society uses to represent veganism. Email Mang with your questions about veganism in China and she'll do her best to answer you!
Q: What does the Chinese food guide really say about meat consumption?
A: Probably not what you’ve heard. When the Chinese Nutrition Society (CNS) updated its official food guide in 2016, many western media outlets, including the Washington Post and the Guardian, reported that the Chinese government was aiming to cut Chinese citizens' meat consumption in half. A comparison of the 2016 food guide with the previous 2007 food guide tells a different story:
The 2007 Food Guide Pagoda for Chinese Residents
The 2016 Food Guide Pagoda for Chinese Residents
Contradicting reports that the Chinese government had "reduced" the recommended daily amount of meat to 75 grams or less per day, the maximum recommended daily amount did not decrease at all.
So if the CNS didn't decrease daily recommended meat intake amounts, where did all this hype about China's meat reduction plan come from?
According to TABLE, a media platform dedicated to food system sustainability, the reported policy change may be due to China's participation in the (now-defunct) Less Meat Less Heat campaign, during which WildAid’s China-based 5 To Do Today climate program produced star-studded PSA videos and posters urging consumers to reduce meat consumption to prevent global warming. TABLE also analyzed the relationship between the campaign's message, the recommendations in the official Chinese food guide, and the actual average meat consumption of the Chinese population at that time:
In the campaign, a video states that the Chinese Nutrition Society recommends Chinese consumers to reduce meat consumption by 50% with the potential of cutting China’s emissions by 9% or global agriculture emissions by 22% from one simple action. However, this has also generated some confusion as the 2016 guidelines recommends between 40-75g/day of meat consumption compared to 2007 version, which recommends 50-75g of meat/day. This only accounts to a minimum amount reduction of 10g, far from the 50% reduction of meat consumption stated by Less Meat Less Heat campaign. This is because the Less Meat Less Heat video actually refers to 50% reduction in current meat consumption levels. Currently, China consumes 63kg per person per year and a daily recommendation of 40-75g a day would mean a maximum consumption of 27.5kg a year, roughly half of current level.
Q: Has the official Chinese food guide become more plant-based since 2016?
A: Yes and no. The main food guide has not reduced recommended intake for animal proteins, and has actually increased the maximum recommended daily intake of milk and dairy products from 300 grams to 500 grams per person per day.
Although the CNS has not explicitly recommended citizens adopt a plant-based diet, it has added sustainability-focused recommendations such as reducing food waste, and in 2016 it released an additional dietary guideline for people following plant-based diets: the Dietary Guidelines for Vegetarian Populations. The vegetarian version of the guide is published alongside the main guide as a supplement for populations with special dietary needs, along with other alternative food guides tailored for seniors, children, and pregnant women. Although not well-known or heavily publicized, the vegetarian food guide outlines dietary guidelines for vegan and ovo-lacto vegetarian diets. The vegan dietary guideline recommends a higher daily intake of nuts and soybean products, and also adds a recommendation for one serving of fermented soy products per day.
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