Hello everyone, I am Alex Wu from G12A, and this is my classmate Rita Xu. 

We often say: Food is the first necessity of the people. Crop food is related to the safety of the country and the happiness of the people. Do you know what October 16th represents? Yes! It is World Crop Food Day. 

The purpose of this festival is to arouse the world's attention to the development of crop food and agricultural production. Today we want to discuss the topic of saving crop food with you guys.

First, let’s talk about the importance of saving crop food. 

As the saying goes, "When the granaries are full, the people follow appropriate rules of conduct; and when there is enough to eat and wear, the people know honor and shame." Crop food meets our most basic needs. Without crop food, we can't survive; without crop food, it is difficult for the country to develop in a healthy condition. 

It is estimated that nearly 690 million people worldwide are in hunger. That is to say, 1 out of 9 people in the world is hungry. 

The food shortage has been exacerbated by the spread of COVID-19 in the past two years. At present, with the continuous growth of China's population, the arable land area is decreasing year by year, China has become the world's largest food importer. 

Next, let’s talk about the current situation of crop food usage. 

According to China Daily, the amount of crop food wasted in China is between 17 million and 18 million tons per year, which is equivalent to 30 million to 50 million people’s food a year, a considerable amount. 

Growing up in a peaceful world, it is difficult for us to appreciate the hardships of field work. We cruelly throw the food we don’t like into the trash can and throw away the leftovers at will. In the restaurants, a huge amount of food is thrown away every day. 

As everyone knows, a seed from sowing, harvesting, to being processed into rice, has to go through at least 20 processes, which takes tremendous efforts.

So what should we do?

Faced with severe food problems, there are many scientific researchers including Longping Yuan, the "father of hybrid rice in the world", using high-tech methods to develop new varieties of crop food and increase its production. They eased global food problem. 

Being the new Chinese generation, in addition to learning from them, the most important thing for us is to take practical actions such as saving food, inheriting and carrying forward the traditional virtues of thrift. 

In the autumn of October, this harvest season, every grain is full of efforts. Saving is the best respect for food. Thank you everyone!