According to a report in the American Chemical Society's Environmental Science and Technology, 19 of every 100 pounds of grain produced in the People's Republic of China is wasted before it reaches the consumer. The lost grain also entails lost water and farmland productivity.

Consumer waste accounts for the largest portion of grain wasted at seven percent. The lost grain translates to 177 billion cubic yards of water used to produce food that is never eaten, a quantity roughly equal to Canada's entire agricultural water needs. It also translates to 64 million acres of wasted cropland. In a country with 21 percent of the world's population but only six percent of its water resources and nine percent of its arable land, every bit of agricultural productivity is welcomed.