Is your organic food grown in China?
The next time you do your organic food shopping at your grocery or organic store, check the label where your product is grown.
China is a major producer of organic foods, in fact, 2.4 million acres are in organic production. Most of this organic production is destined for foreign markets because organic food is not in huge demand in China. Natural food (food grown with limited chemical pesticides and herbicides)is much more popular because it is much more inexpensive than fully organic products.
So what is the problem? Isn’t organic food ‘organic’ no matter where it is grown?
The question for you is who is certifying the food production in China? IFOAM is a major certifying body in China but there are also over 30 smaller organizations certifying organic foods in China, all with different rules and guidelines.
The Beijing Consumer Association did a survey and found that over 10% of the organic food in the city was not organic. Some companies sell food labeled as organic without certification, and others simply label conventionally produced food with organic labels because of the higher prices they can receive.
Another concern: foods resemble the soils they are grown on. By that I mean, if a soil is deficient of some nutrients, the food grown with be deficient. In the same way, if soil is contaminated, the food will be contaminated.
China is home to the world’s most polluted soils. Soil contaminants include heavy metals, pesticides and fertilizers. Manure, both animal and human, is used to fertilize these organic crops. These manures may not be properly composted and are applied RAW to the fields. These manures can be contaminated with antibiotics, antioxidants, hormones medicines, antimicrobials and heavy metals which were used as feed additives or animal medicines. These contaminants are very serious as they endanger environmental quality and human health.
Think about the lead in all the children’s toys that came from China. How do you know your food is safer than those toys?
You don’t.
The big question is - how do you know what is in your food?
The answer - go visit your local farmers market, talk to the producers, get to know them and support local grown, organic food production.
For more info about food production in China, http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4998, http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_42/b4005007.htm
For organic home delivery, visit Diamond Organics or SPUD.
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