Greening China’s Food
In so many forums, articles, and discussions, it is China’s air pollution that is front and center, but one of the most important issues for China going forward will be food.
The Greening of China’s Food - Green Food, Organic Food, and Eco-labeling by John Paul at The Australian National University Canberra, Australia,is an excellent paper that details:
This paper examines the rapid rise of green food and organic agriculture in China, the multiple motivations that have driven it, and the innovative implementation strategies underpinning it.
Perhaps just as important as how the food is grown, is the process of certifications themselves. In China, as can be seen through this paper, this is perhaps one of the biggest problems as previous certification organizations used poor processes and the result was a public that was highly skeptical of green labels.
Green Food in China was born of a complex milieu of factors, including, environmental pollution problems, pesticide contamination, the need to maintain a healthy population, the need to produce safe and nutritious food for the world’s most populous country, the need to raise farmers income, to reverse the excesses of the so called green Revolution, to keep farmers on the land and stymie the drift of the rural workers to the cities, and the bad press and image of China-produced food in the international market, and so called “green barriers”.
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