Guizhou guarantees food safety with big data

Southwest China's Guizhou province has achieved success in applying big data in meal supplies for students receiving compulsory education in rural areas. In impoverished areas such as Tongren, over 2,700 schools use the online platform to guarantee food safety and prevent abuse of funds.

With the online platform, school canteens can order food ingredients on smart phones, as well as upload videos and photos for supervision. The system can automatically record stock maintenance and track the shelf life of food supplies.

Students' daily diet and suggestions on nutritional balance will be sent to parents' phones to ensure teenagers' good health and improves their nutritional intake.

In addition to a 4 yuan (56 cents) per day dietary allowance provided by the country to every student, Tongren will also provide a 1 yuan dietary allowance so that students can enjoy fruits, snacks, and milk in addition to their meals.

To date, Tongren has invested 290 million yuan to build 301 school canteens in rural areas. It has also stipulated that the prices of rice, oil, meat, and vegetables sold to schools should be 10 to 15 percent lower than market prices.

The online platform has cooperated with 667 agricultural producers' cooperatives and has achieved 981 million yuan in agricultural products trade. By purchasing agricultural products from poverty-stricken villages, the platform has promoted industrial structure adjustments and poverty alleviation efforts in rural areas.