Comments on the Experience of Running a Permanent Canteen [I]
(July 14, 1958)
[I]
The 2,528th issue of Xinhua News Agency’s “Internal Reference,” printed on July 12, 1958, carried an article by a work team from Hubei Province’s Grain Department titled “The Operation of Commune Canteens Greatly Promotes Production and Improves Living Standards.” The article described the experience of the Bayi Agricultural Cooperative in Heye Township, Jingshan County, Hubei Province, in running a year-round canteen. It noted that whenever the subject of the canteen was mentioned among both cooperative officials and members, everyone would smile and praise it enthusiastically. Farmers in this cooperative favored the canteen because its operation brought four major benefits: first, it saved labor and increased members’ incomes; second, it conserved grain; third, it economized fuel and reduced household expenses; and fourth, it helped develop pig production. However, the canteen did not get off to a good start. It went through three attempts at establishment, only to fail twice, mainly due to inadequate management and flawed methods of food distribution. In response to concerns among the membership—such as fears of unfair administration, embezzlement by managers, and wealthy farmers’ reluctance to reveal their prosperity—the cooperative leadership undertook the following measures: First, they took a more hands-on approach, setting an example and dispelling misunderstandings through concrete actions. Second, they established formal organizational structures to strengthen management. A canteen management committee was formed under the leadership of the cooperative’s finance director, with relevant personnel included; each production team also set up its own canteen management group. Their primary responsibilities were to audit accounts, promptly gather feedback from the masses on canteen operations, and hold regular meetings to discuss ways to improve. Third, they adhered to the principle of voluntary participation. Households that chose not to join the canteen continued to receive their full allotments of grain and firewood according to the established distribution system. Thanks to this commitment to voluntariness, combined with the steadily improving performance of the canteen, even those who had initially been reluctant eventually volunteered to participate. The fifth issue of the magazine Red Flag, published on August 1, 1958, featured this article under the title “How Was the Bayi Agricultural Cooperative’s Canteen Successfully Established?”

Comrade Chen Boda [I] has reviewed it. Return to Mao.
On page eleven is an account of a cooperative in Heye Township, Jingshan County, Hubei Province, operating a canteen; it may be considered for publication in Red Flag.
[I]
Chen Boda, then editor-in-chief of Red Flag magazine.
Mao Zedong
July 14