1. Department of Plant Nutrition, The Key Plant-Soil Interaction Laboratory, Ministry of Evironment, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China 2. National Academy of Agriculture Green Development, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China 3. Chinese Academy of Green Food Development, Beijing 100193, China
Green food in China refers to a wide array of primary and processed agricultural products that are safe, nutritious and of high quality for human consumption. Green food has been certified and produced following the principle of sustainability since the 1990s, making historic achievements in providing quality food, protecting the environment, increasing farmer income, and nurturing agricultural brands over the past 30 years in China. Today, the green food industry enters a steady-growth stage in terms of cultivation area, product number and sales. This article summarizes the history of the development of green food in China and current achievements, analyze major challenges that may hamper further development of the industry, and propose strategies to address these challenges, i.e., optimization of the food supply chain, deep food processing, and utilization of food wastes.
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