Why I don't buy food grown in China

[healthyvegan]

http://qz.com/200602/china-just-reveale ... -polluted/

Other estimates of China’s soil pollution are as much as 40-70% of total land

After my trip to Thailand last year I stopped buying anything grown there either.

I try to source all my food grown in the USA if I can't grow it myself. At least if something goes wrong here there is accountability or at least a chance of it.

I lived in China in 97' and the air was so black from burning all the coal I never saw a yellow bugger... nothing but black for an entire year.

I have a whole list of do not buy from, the most difficult to avoid is Mexico since it became easier for farmers to just move their farms to the laborers vs relying on illegals since not many raised in this country in the last 50 years fancy themselves day laboring vegetable and fruit pickers, but that's another topic!

[colonyofcells]

China now exports lots of organic food to america and I guess these probably also have lots of pollution.

[waingapu]

China now exports lots of organic food to america and I guess these probably also have lots of pollution.

Its hard to imagine anyone trusting any food from China to be organic.
I barely trust food labeled organic that is grown in the USA.

I purchase no food that has come from China.
But you have to be very careful as LOTS of some foods sneak by without being labeled.
For example, nearly all cheap apple juice you see is coming from China, but you won't see that on the labels.

"Nearly 60 percent of apple juice sold in the United States is imported from China, according to US Department of Agriculture data."

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-I ... t-of-China

[pinkrose]

http://qz.com/200602/china-just-revealed-a-major-state-secret-nearly-20-of-its-farmland-is-polluted/

Other estimates of China’s soil pollution are as much as 40-70% of total land

After my trip to Thailand last year I stopped buying anything grown there either.

I try to source all my food grown in the USA if I can't grow it myself. At least if something goes wrong here there is accountability or at least a chance of it.

I lived in China in 97' and the air was so black from burning all the coal I never saw a yellow bugger... nothing but black for an entire year.

I have a whole list of do not buy from, the most difficult to avoid is Mexico since it became easier for farmers to just move their farms to the laborers vs relying on illegals since not many raised in this country in the last 50 years fancy themselves day laboring vegetable and fruit pickers, but that's another topic!

Thanks for sharing this, healthy vegan. All of my food is grown in China and I do not know how to determine if something is clean or not! We are also concerned about excess pesticides and we wash our veggies several times.

If you lived in China, how would you minimize your risk of getting sick?

[dteresa]

According to one expert in the movie, Chow Down, the US does not grow enough fruits and vegetables to supply every person in this country with even the bare minimum of five a day. It is hard to find vegetables and fruits in the five markets near me that have not been grown in Mexico, Guatemala or some other latin american country. I have never seen fruits or vegies here that have been grown in China. I do know that a lot of processed food does contain at least some ingredients from china. Of course everyone should know that if you are getting fresh produce that is out of season in your section of the country that it is not local. Even some of the local farmers markets here sell produce that is brought in from other parts of the country.

Where do you live that you can get a variety of fresh produce grown only in this country all year long? Now I see lots of the frozen vegetables are grown in Mexico or Guatemala. I also suspect you might think you are not buying stuff from china but the label might say ---distributed by such and such a company. It is an american distributor but unlikely to be an american grower. Much like buying pharmaceuticals that say on the label that they are distributed by an american company but careful inquiry will reveal that they have been made in India or Czechoslovakia or some other place. If you think it is hard to get american grown food, try buying american manufactured drugs.

didi

[Chile]

I have never seen fruits or vegies here that have been grown in China.

I was surprised last year when I read the labels on frozen fruits and I think some of the veggies at Costco. A number of the products were from China.

I do buy a fair amount of produce from Mexico as I live in southern Arizona so much of the produce in our grocery stores is from across the border. I try to stick to organic for the Dirty Dozen (EWG list) but sometimes the budget prevents that as well. In the end, I hope that eating lower on the food chain will make a big enough difference that I don't need to buy every last bit of food from the organic selections.

Luckily, my DH is getting better and better at gardening. We've had organically grown greens right from our yard for the last several months. I had to clear out the lettuce bed this week due to heat which makes it bolt and go to seed, but the kale is still going strong.

[eXtremE]

Bad products are manufactured in China.
Bad foods are manufactured in the good old USA.

China is selling us the products and we are selling them the food. LMAO!

[plants-and-carbs]

Yeah, the situation in China with food is also kind of dark and twisted. They recently had a big issue with dog meat too. Ugh

Here is an article that talks about how over 900 dogs (mostly stolen pets!) where rescued from going to slaughter for meat.


BEIJING -- The head of an animal rescue center in China said Sunday that volunteers have rescued about 900 dogs that were being transported in poor conditions in a truck.

Chen Mingcai of the Chongqing Small Animal Protection Association said that a travelling citizen became suspicious of the truck and called police, who detained the truck driver on Friday night.

Chen said he was later contacted by a netizen who had seen a photo of the dogs left in the truck on the entrance of an expressway in southwestern Chongqing city.

He said that by Saturday afternoon volunteers from the animal center and other animal lovers who had seen postings about the dogs on social media had arrived at the truck wanting to help the dogs. Chen says three people were injured in clashes with suspected dog sellers who had also turned up.

Volunteers said the truck was on its way to Guangdong province in southern China, where dog meat is often served in restaurants

(here is the link if you want to read more about the China dogs to be used for human consumption)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/0 ... 01128.html

[ParsleyPatch]

OK, I admit it. I don't normally look at the fine print on my frozen food purchases. A quick check in my freezer reveals the following:

Organic Handpicked Whole Green Beans, USDA Organic, from Integrity Farms and Certified Organic by Oregon Tilth, Imported by Pure Sales Inc., Irvine, Calif., from China.

Organic Broccoli Florets, USDA Organic, from Integrity Farms and Certified Organic by Oregon Tilth, Imported by Pure Sales Inc., Irvine, Calif., from China.

Shelled Edamame, Distributed by Safeway Inc., Pleasanton, Calif.; Product of People's Republic of China.

Organic Petite Broccoli Florets, USDA Organic, Distributed by Lucerne Foods, Inc., Pleasanton, Calif.; Product of Mexico.

"All Natural" Pepper Stirfry (red, yellow, and green peppers and onions), Distributed by Delicious Valley Food Sales, San Antonio, Texas; Product of USA, Mexico.

"All Natural" Chopped Spinach, Distributed by Safeway Inc., Pleasanton, Calif.; Product of USA, packed in Canada.

Whole Unsweetened Cranberries, Distributed by Safeway Inc., Pleasanton, Calif.; Product of Canada, packed in Canada.

Cut Corn, Distributed by Lucerne Foods Inc., Pleasanton, Calif.; Product of Canada, packed in Canada.

Summer Peak Blueberries, Packed by Rader Farms Inc., Lynden, Washington; Product of USA.

The biggest surprise is realizing the ones from Oregon Tilth come from China. Oregon is such a hippie-crunchy place that has a reputation for being all natural and healthy. I've been making assumptions about my food choices. I can see I have work to do, although I don't know how I can eat much without continuing to go down this road. It's going to be a challenge.

[healthyvegan]

Yeah I can't imagine Oregon Tilth or USDA Organic is A. Even going to China or B. even checking to make sure those products didn't just print their certification via outright theft. There would be a lot of grocer's freezers to double check. If I was running a farm in China I'd just get the one organic farm to resubmit for my farm or pay them to use their certification, etc. Only way to do this right is to get the organic Chinese food chemically & genetically analyzed. I bet 90% of it fails miserable. Reminds me when a friend of mine analyzed all the vegan restaurants in LA and most failed http://archives.quarrygirl.com/2009/06/ ... staurants/

If you live in China, my advice is to move to the area with the cleanest air/soil. If you are stuck in a major polluted city, wear a mask outside, have a Hepa filter that you change regularly and shop at farmers markets for your food and get to know the farmer and visit their farm. I'm certain in every city there is a cult of vegan organic people who can point you in the right direction for clean food.

I definitely will buy/eat anything grown in Canada & most EU countries, too.

Not only is frozen food a culprit of grown in China, but the dried and vacuum sealed stuff on the shelves, too.

The more food you can grow yourself in your own veganic garden the better. I suggest trying some seed potatoes in a barrel if you've never grown before, its really fun & fresh potatoes taste so good you'll never buy a dried up grocery store spud again.

[Glenn50]

..People in China are increasingly having to deal with the environmental cost of their rapid economic growth.

A government report says nearly one-fifth of farmland in mainland China is polluted. The report was based on a study undertaken from April 2005 to last December on more than 2.4 million square miles of land across the country.

The study says 16.1 percent of China's soil and 19.4 percent of its arable land is contaminated. It says heavy metals cadmium, nickel and arsenic are the top pollutants.

The report blames industrial and agricultural activities - things like factory waste, the improper use of fertilizers and pesticides, and irrigating land with polluted water.

Hunan Province, in central China, has some of the worst soil pollution and is also one of the country's top metal producers.

It is also a large rice-growing area, and produced 16 percent of the country's crop in 2012.

As pollution in the air, water and land takes its toll, the government is now supporting numerous projects to find solutions.

Al Jazeera's Rob McBride reports from Zhejian Province, in eastern China

http://www.aljazeera.com/video/asia-pac ... 76246.html