Do you know mukbang? It is about the eating shows in front of the camera on the Internet. In the shows, mukbangers eat food and sometimes talk to people who watch their videos.

The eating shows started in South Korea in around 2010 and then became popular all over the world. Why did mukbang start in this country? Actually, South Korea has the culture of eating together, but eating on one’s own is quite common in the country. Watching mukbang can be a way to have someone to eat with. People can connect with others even though they are at home alone.

However, mukbang has its bad sides. The way mukbangers eat food in some shows isn’t healthy. These bad eating habits can bring serious health problems. Worse still, some mukbangers prepare a lot of food but throw away much food without others knowing during the show or after the show. These mukbangers waste a lot of food.

Now, many people criticize such shows. Food waste is a serious problem around the world, and lots of people still don’t have enough food to eat. Our country does a lot of things to solve the problem and asks short-video platforms, such as TikTok and Kuaishou, to take action.

It may sound like a cliche (老生常谈), but food is still the stuff of life. So when global food prices soar (大涨), people worry.

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on April 8 that world food prices hit an all-time high in March. Prices for vegetable oils, meats, sugar and dairy products could rise up to 22 percent.

According to the agency, the FAO’s food price index (指数) had already reported an all-time high in February, as the pandemic, poor weather and climate crisis damaged agriculture and threatened food security for millions of people.

The Ukraine crisis (乌克兰危机) has made the situation much worse. Both Russia and Ukraine have vast grain-growing regions. They are among the world’s main breadbaskets. The two countries together accounted for around 30 percent of global wheat exports. The conflict has also caused a rise in the cost of the other daily essentials and fuel.

“It is extremely worrisome,” said Rabah Arezki, former chief economist at the World Bank.

In 2022, there will be 44 million people in 38 countries at the “emergency” phase of food insecurity, just one step away from a declaration of famine. People in South Sudan, Yemen, and the northern parts of Ethiopia and Nigeria are at particular risk. Recent unrest (动荡) across the world highlights the risks. In Sri Lanka, protests have erupted over shortages of gas and other basic goods.

Global food insecurity may make many concerned: Does China have enough food for its population of 1.4 billion?

According to Wei Baigang, chief economist at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China relies mainly on domestic grain production and only 2 percent of the nation’s grain is imported. Global price increases have had little impact on China’s food prices. China’s food prices even dropped 1.5 percent year-on-year in March, in sharp contrast to the global food price rise of more than 30 percent.

In 2021, China saw a good grain harvest for the 18th year in a row, with total grain output exceeding (超过) 650 million tons for seven consecutive years.

The harvest ensured the country’s basic self-sufficiency (自给自足) in grain and its absolute grain security.

Hot pot (火锅) is one of the most popular food in China. There are many stories about how hot pot appeared. The most traditional and oldest one has to do with Genghis Khan.

He was the founder (建立者) of the Mongol Empire (蒙古帝国). He was also one of the greatest leaders (领袖). The place where he lived was very cold in winter. He needed food to keep his army warm, strong and healthy. When it was time to eat, they put ice (冰) and snow into a pot. When they became water, and the temperature was high, they put meat into it. After a short time, the meat was OK. That might be the first hot pot. The meat they ate most was mutton, beef and horse meat. Later, people brought hot pot to other parts of China and improved it. People began to put more kinds of food into the hot pot, such as vegetables and seafood (海鲜).

By the Qing Dynasty, hot pot became popular in most parts of China.

Today we can find different kinds of hot pot in Beijing, Chongqing, Sichuan and some foreign countries. When we eat the delicious hot pot, we also feel the special food culture of China.