Recently, students thronged a window on the first floor of Canteen No. 1 at TJU Peiyangyuan Campus. They were selling dishes made from ingredients from TJU’s targeted support county, Tanchang County in Gansu Province.

Tianjin University initiated an innovative plan of “supporting through consumption” by purchasing agricultural products from households with financial difficulties in Tanchang County. About 40,000 TJU teachers and students have access to these dishes in the eleven canteens.

Six kinds of dishes are provided every day with their prices ranging from 2.5 yuan to 6 yuan, and the dishes are adjusted according to the type and taste of the raw materials. The cost-effective dishes with high-quality ingredients were widely praised by both teachers and students. The director of the TJU Diet Management Center said: “Our original intention was to raise the income of farmers with financial difficulties. Most ingredients purchased are from Tanchang County and they are directly transported to TJU canteens after food security inspection. The direct purchase method reduces intermediate links and lowers costs of transportation and procurement, thus enabling farmers, teachers and students to reap tangible benefits and forming a green supply chain that benefits them all.”

At the end of September, representatives of the TJU Diet Management Center were sent on field trips to Tanchang County. They visited local markets, and selected fungus, potato vermicelli, cornstarch and other local products that are cost-effective and easy to transport and preserve. Ultimately, they purchased tens of thousands of kilograms of fungus, vermicelli, cornstarch and peppers to satisfy the needs of TJU canteens. The director of the TJU Diet Management Center said: “Our initiative helps farmers in poverty-stricken counties increase their income to some extent, change traditional poverty-relief models which simply rely on capital investment, as well as stimulating local farmers’ enthusiasm for production.”

Up until midday on November 12 after the window for the dishes had just opened, nearly 300 dishes were sold. Sheng Fangyuan, a student enrolled in 2016 as an English major said: “The potato vermicelli is delicious. It is good to open such a window with the concept of supporting the poor through consumption. I am really happy to know I can contribute too.”

Previously, Tianjin University had helped Fujia Village in Jinghai District, Tianjin by implementing the initiative of helping locals by “supporting the needy through consumption” by purchasing local agricultural products like corn meal.

Tianjin University has provided targeted support for Tanchang County since 2013. Besides purchasing local agricultural products and opening canteen windows with local ingredients, Tianjin University also helps sell Tanchang honey and traditional Chinese medicine for health care in the conference reception center and supermarkets. Tianjin University attaches great importance to the targeted support program. It not only improves its targeted support mechanism constantly, but also designs work plans carefully. The Tianjin University project leaders have been to Tanchang County many times in order to promote the work. Furthermore, Tianjin University has selected outstanding cadres to work in rural areas to assist local villages with poverty relief.