Terrific news! Organics are on the rise in China. This actually isn't terribly surprising to me. Back in 2003, I read a short story in Chinese about organic foods and why they were good. That appeared in a Chinese textbook, alongside other essays by well-known modern Chinese writers. So now, six years later, the LA Times is writing about the trend toward organics in China. Here's an excerpt:
Conforming to organic standards when you have no control over neighbors' practices, or what rains down on you, is difficult. But on paper, China's organic farming standards are strict enough, Chen says.
The problem, she says, is making sure that farmers stick to those standards, and ensuring that there are enough authorities to adequately monitor producers who claim their food is organic -- a tall order in a country where toxic, heavy-metal-filled sewage sludge is the cheapest, most easily accessible fertilizer around.
Though one might wonder what could be more organic than excrement, medical waste and factory runoff also make their way into sewer systems. Not limited to China, the use of toxic sludge fertilizer is a widespread problem, seen in the U.S. and elsewhere.
That makes me want to eat food from China even less than I already did. Thank goodness at least some Chinese farmers are waking up. |
