Green Food Development in China: Experiences and Challenges

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The topic is very interesting.

However, the work shows some limitations, which should be overcome.

Starting from the end and going backward:

1. a) the scenario analysis in paragraph 6 is incomplete (it only considers mineral nitrogen) and constitutes a separate work, weakly connected to the rest of the article. While referring to other articles, the method used to estimate the reduction in mineral nitrogen consumption is not well explained;
2. The scenario analysis is also unclear in the premises. What does it mean "If all green food industries strictly follow the Green Food Fertilizer Application Guideline"? Does it mean that not all green food industries follow the guidelines? If so, we can understand the lack of consumer trust (section 4.4)! If this is not the case, the authors should better explain how they proceeded;
3. in paragraph 4.4 there is a reference "(see the Green Food Legislation and Development System in China)", which is not reflected in the References section.
4. in paragraph 4.3, what is the meaning of "unitary variety"?
5. in paragraph 4.2, the meaning of "poor informal education" is not clear. Do the authors mean "poor education" (both formal and informal) or "poor, informal education"? (education is both poor and informal)?;
6. paragraphs 4.1 and 2.4. If the reviewer is not wrong, a large part of the population is also concentrated in the eastern regions. The idea of increasing the production of green food in the western regions may make sense, but we should not underestimate the resulting effects on the logistic organization and the consequent economic and environmental costs;
7. paragraph 4 and 2.2. The authors emphasize the growth of green food production (e.g. "tremendous progress"), but the numbers are not so convincing. In paragraph 2.2 it is specified that "the cultivation area expanded from 0.82 million ha in the 1990s to 11.1 million ha in 2019". The initial figure is uncertain as a temporal reference, but if we consider the most favourable case and refer it to 1999, we see a growth of areas equal to 13.5% on average per year. It is a really remarkable growth, if seen through the eyes of an observer coming from a developed country, but it does not seem so "tremendous" if we consider the overall growth of the Chinese economy (+9.5% per year). Furthermore, the numbers highlight a potential criticality: surfaces appear static in recent years, while the number of companies seems to be increasing in the same years, so it appears that companies involved in green food production tend to become smaller, while in an expanding sector it should be the opposite;
8. in figure 4 a) and b) the relationship between the data series "Total" and "Current Year" is not clear. For example, in figure 4 b) it seems that the data are about 16,000 and 6,500 respectively. It is not clear whether the "Current Year" data refer to companies that operated in 2019 (but then, what happened to the others?) or whether it refers to new companies that started operating in 2019. In this case, also considering that the "Total" figure for 2018 is about 13,000, it would be that out of the 13,000 companies operating in 2018, about 3,500 have ceased to exist, about 9,500 have continued to operate in 2019 and about 6,500 new ones have been added, bringing the total to about 16,000. In both cases, the sector appears to be growing, but also very unstable. It should be clarified.
9. Table 2 should be inserted as an appendix;
10. the authorization process is broadly described. However, it is not illustrated how recognition is revoked because of inspection activities and no data are provided.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The present manuscript addresses a very interesting and important thematic. In my point of view it is well written and structured. However, I would like that the authors could discuss some other important issues when they are reviewing the “Green Food Development in China”.

What is the role of entomophagy and jellyfish consumption as well as other food sources with low environment impact in China and how it can contribute for this green food development and better sustainabiliy? I believe these are two examples of food sources of importance to the Chinese consumer and with a relevant impact on sustainability. So, it should be included on this review. The Chinese scenario should be compared with other regions of the world.

The authors should analyze the evolution in terms of food safety in the Chinese scenario, both in terms of regulation and practical applicability over the past few years. Namely whether it is mandatory or not to implement the HACCP system and its practical applicability and contribution to greater food safety. The Chinese scenario should be compared with other regions of the world.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The improvement made by the authors is considerable.
The reviewer suggests that the explanation given to the reviewer by the authors in paragraph 7 (see the text copied in the following lines) should be somehow embodied in the text.

Response [...] In recent years, small-holder farmers are encouraged to shift from conventional agriculture to the green food mode, resulting in the growing number of companies without obvious expansion of the cultivated area. Additionally, more newly certified companies prefer food processing for higher added value rather than primary products, which contributes more to industry upgrading than area expansion.

Author Response

Please see the attachment！

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript has been improved and I only suggest these minor changes before publication:

 

There is no mention of Table S1 in the text. This table needs references.

Some relevant and recent papers about the insect-based foods and eating jellyfish should be cited by the authors:

Raposo, A., Coimbra, A., Amaral, L., Gonçalves, A., & Morais, Z. (2018). Eating jellyfish: safety, chemical and sensory properties. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 98(10), 3973-3981.

Raheem, D., Carrascosa, C., Oluwole, O. B., Nieuwland, M., Saraiva, A., Millán, R., & Raposo, A. (2019). Traditional consumption of and rearing edible insects in Africa, Asia and Europe. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 59(14), 2169-2188.

 

 

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment！

Author Response File: Author Response.docx