An old Chinese saying says that disease enters the body through the mouth. Conversely, when it comes to good health, you are what you eat.
Shanghai's Agriculture Commission wants healthier, safer food delivered to the table. Its aim is for the city to have more than 70 percent of locally produced farm products certified as pollution-free or organic by 2020.
"Pollution-free is our bottom line," said Yin Ou, vice director of the commission. "All agricultural products produced in Shanghai will be required to meet that standard. To achieve it, healthy soil, and clean water and air are the basic requirements."
Progress is being made.
In the past five years, local farmers have used about 200,000 tons of organic fertilizer a year and planted more than 333 square kilometers of green manure to enhance soil fertility. More than 80 percent of straw is recycled back into fields rather than burnt.
The city's Chongming Island is striving to build itself into an eco island. About half of the agricultural products produced on Chongming are licensed as "green food."
Shanghai Beihu Modern Agricultural Development Co, which is located on the island, has resorted to traditional agricultural practices by "introducing ducks and frogs to farming to rebuild a biological chain and make production more organic," said Shi Yuping, vice manager of the company.
The company put 6,000 ducks in a rice field to clear pests and weeds. As a result, use of bio-pesticides in the field was reduced by two thirds, Shi said. The ducks were removed before the harvest began in late September.
"Green food will be the future of the Chinese market as more people realize the importance of healthy eating," said Lily Chao, chairwoman of the Shanghai-based Wah Kwong Agriculture Development Co.
The former screen star, now in her 60s, decided to enter the agriculture industry because of her interest in public health and food safety.
Five years ago, Wah Kwong set up a 4-square-kilometer farm in Xuyi, eastern Zhejiang Province, to grow rice, fruit and vegetables. The company spent three years replenishing the soil before cultivation began.
"The whole production is a comprehensive process," Chao said. "We have high standards at every step, including low-temperature drying and storage to keep the organic nutrients."
Some people chose brown rice over white rice out of concern over risks of diabetes, she said, but "with organic production and scientific processing, the white rice can also be healthy to one's blood sugar." She added that her farm's rice had won the first prize in a Hong Kong competition.
But Chao warned that the image of the organic food industry was being tarnished by some producers claiming that their products were organic simply to jack up prices.
"We want to introduce agricultural tourism to our farm in the future so that urban dwellers can get a break from fast-paced city life and learn more about the virtues of organic farming and healthy food," Chao said.
Shanghai Agricultural Product Central Wholesale Market, one of the city's largest wet markets, is working with an outside inspection firm to introduce more advanced methods in monitoring the quality of products, which come from across China. "We are serving as an important front door on food safety before products enter the retail market," said Yang Jianping, director of the market's inspection center.
Yang said the threshold to enter the retail market was being raised and products that failed testing would be handed over to local authorities for further examination.
