Frank Dikötter says Great Leap Forward food allocation was used “as a weapon”

What was said

""In other words, food is used as a weapon and a great many people are simply cut off from the food chain as a form of punishment.""

Discussing the Great Leap Forward, Frank Dikötter says food rations were tied to ‘work points’, meaning people who could not work (including pregnant, sick, or elderly people) or who were deemed undesirable could be denied access to canteens. He argues this turned food into a coercive tool, saying many people were “cut off from the food chain as a form of punishment” and that “tens of millions” were banned from canteens and starved to death.