BEIJING, Oct. 14 -- Senior officials warn of the toll excessive food consumption is taking on the nation's scarce water and farm resources as they reveal almost 200 billion yuan worth of food (32.6 billion U.S. dollars) is discarded from Chinese dining tables every year.

The wasted food could potentially feed more than 200 million people, said Wu Zidan, deputy director of the State Administration of Grain, citing industry expert estimates.

In addition to the wasted food, roughly 35 billion kilograms of grain is wasted each year in storage, transportation and processing, Wu said Monday at a ceremony kicking off a one-week education event aimed at raising people's awareness for saving food.

Food security is a major issue in China, one of the world's most heavily farmed countries, where problems including limited land and water resources as well as rising pollution put a strain on agriculture.