China. Whither The Children. I Say Tomato.
During one of the breaks in the recent Berkeley Asia Business conference, I took part in a conversation with an American guy whose wife was expecting her first baby and an American woman with a toddler. Both of these people had spent many years in China and loved it and both were still very much engaged in China related businesses. Both talked of how important it was that they be in China for business reasons.
Then they talked of how they worried about China for their kids. They were focused on the pollution. I stayed silent but I thought about how I would also be concerned about the food. Though not a China story, I can never forget my first trip to Vladivostok, Russia and how the drive from the airport to the city included my seeing abandoned factory with sludge pond after abandoned factory with sludge pond. And interspersed between all this were a bunch of tomato farms. I thought about run-off each time I left the tomatoes (about the only fresh vegetable Vladivostok had back in those days) on my plate.
The New York Times recently did a artcle on yet another food scandal in China. I fear that the China food scandal story scandals have become so routine the media is losing interest. The NY Times article is on how cowpeas from Hainan Island were grown using illegal and highly toxic fertilizers, used because such fertilizer costs way less than the legal kind. I am not even going to bother summarizing the article beyond stating that it only reaffirms that China's food safety system is broken and I for one do not see a rapid repair in sight.
For more on China food safety, or the lack thereof, check out the following:
-- China's New Food Safety Law. An Early Report.
-- China's Food Chain. Nobody Trusts Nobody.
-- China Food Safety: Executions Aren't Working So Let's Try New Standards.
-- China Food Products: Can't Live With 'Em, Can't Live Without 'Em. This one is for those of us who believe that we are immune to Chinese foods by virtue of living in the West.
What do you think?
Comments (7)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endJoe Jones - March 4, 2010 11:53 PM
This is a tough call. Here's how I think of it as a casual China watcher -- although China has its share of food-safety bad apples, I still think the overall quality of food is better than in the United States, where everything is genetically-modified, processed to death and served on your plate months after it was severed from life. In China, it seems you can be fairly sure that your food was slaughtered/picked at a local spot and at a recent time. The problem with strict food safety rules is that compliance with the rules encourages large-scale commodification of food, where quality is governed by a corporate business plan rather than the judgment of the cultivator.
Fortunately, here in Japan it is very hard to get to the latter phase because there is simply not enough unbroken flat land to do large-scale agriculture like what is seen in Europe and the US, so we get the best of both worlds, albeit at a high price premium. One Japanese garlic bulb costs twice as much as a pack of four Chinese garlic bulbs at the supermarket, yet people still buy Japanese.
Incidentally, the Korean government has been subsidizing farmland grabs near Vladivostok recently so that Korean firms can grow crops there (with mostly local labor) for export to Korea. I wonder where that will lead.
Glen Wilkins - March 5, 2010 8:52 AM
"I still think the overall quality of food is better than in the United States, where everything is genetically-modified, processed to death and served on your plate months after it was severed from life."
I would argue that the whole food and slow food movements have begun to change American eating habits, particularly as it pertains to fresh fruits and veggies. We've moved away from canned soup and velveeta and we're moving closer to farmer's markets and organic produce.
The one advantage you do have with the food production system in the U.S. as compared to China is that you can expect a recall when things go wrong and, more importantly, you will have someone to sue. Chinese consumers will be better off when their rights to sue for damages are expanded. The only way to trump the corruption and mismanagement in the Chinese food production system is to hang the threat of litigation over their heads. Rubber stamp laws from Beijing continue to do nothing to protect consumers.
ceh - March 5, 2010 11:45 AM
Justice-through-tort-litigation is a uniquely American viewpoint. There are many other ways to hold bad actors accountable without resorting to punitive damages and a 100-fold increase in the number of lawyers. This is especially true in an environment where at the fundamental level, the culprit is poor business ethics of low-level (and judgment-proof) farmers, dairy men, etc.
Glen - March 5, 2010 1:12 PM
"There are many other ways to hold bad actors accountable without resorting to punitive damages and a 100-fold increase in the number of lawyers."
Like what? Why isn't China using those methods? Calling something "uniquely American" doesn't make it wrong or ineffective. It may be helpful in other countries/regions as well.
If large food companies in China operated under the threat of litigation, they would be much more careful about which "low-level (and judgment-proof) farmers, dairy men, etc." they bought their materials from. In a way, the fear of torts does trickle down to the guy at the bottom.
Also, China is in desperate need of more lawyers. A one hundred fold increase wouldn't be a bad thing.
Lorriefauver - March 6, 2010 12:22 AM
I would argue that the whole food and slow food movements have begun to change American eating habits, particularly as it pertains to fresh fruits and veggies.
JP Patches - March 10, 2010 10:10 PM
I lived in Beijing for six years, had a kid, and moved back to Kansas City. Nuff said.
Lea - March 15, 2010 11:28 AM
I think that if people aren't getting sick then why should we care? It is all about what you think and what you like better.