About China’s Organic Food

a nice follow-up...

China’s Organic Food Disappoints Consumers
by Ling Li – April 2, 2007 – 11:00pm

--------------------
The recent closing of China’s first organic supermarket, the “O Store” in Shanghai, due to poor sales has dimmed the vision of eating organic among some Chinese consumers. Middle-class residents of big cities like Shanghai and Beijing are the group most likely to buy organic food, but many have expressed frustration over the higher prices. Nationwide, organics consumers account for no more than 3 percent of China’s total population, according to the Nanjing-based Organic Food Development Center (OFDC), a subdivision of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).

Yet China’s production of organic food is a different story. In 2005, some 978,000 hectares of land were dedicated to certified organic production or under certification, an amount second only to that in the United States. But unlike countries whose organic farming is prompted mainly by concerns for the environment and health, China’s organic production is driven in large part by the economic benefits of global trade. China has become the dominant supplier of organic beans and seeds—such as pumpkin and sunflower seeds and kidney and black beans—to the European market.

It is a challenge, however, to grow truly organic crops in a country that is home to the world’s most polluted soils, contaminated with heavy metals, fertilizers, and pesticides. Most of the fertilizers used in China are phosphate-based chemicals that are highly toxic and have high heavy metal residues. China uses nearly 400 kilograms of fertilizers per hectare of land, far exceeding the threshold of 225 kilograms per hectare set by industrial countries.

Overall, organic food consumption has huge growth potential in the Chinese market. Domestic sales of so-called “green” foods—items produced with only limited use of chemicals and pesticides, as opposed to fully organic foods—jumped by 18 percent in 2005 to some 100 billion yuan (US $13 billion), Reuters reported. Recent food scares, commercial promotion, and an increase in disposable income are all contributing to the rising interest in healthier alternatives. But organic and green foods still cost as much as one third more on average, according to the China Green Food Development Center.

The uneven quality of certification is another obstacle for Chinese consumers. OFDC, founded in 1994, is the nation’s only organization recognized by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), a global organics certifier. Some 30 domestic organizations authorized by the Certification and Accreditation Administration have developed standards and codes on their own, with mixed results. The Beijing Consumer Association once conducted a local survey finding that fake organic food accounted for almost 10 percent of “green” food sales in the capital city. Some companies claim organic sourcing on their products without acquiring certification, while others simply paste on false organics labels that resemble the genuine ones.

“Grow local and eat local” is a strategy that can help to both reduce the price of organic products and minimize the impacts on the environment, according to a representative of Greenpeace China. The organization has set a goal of promoting local organic food sales in China and making them accessible to Chinese consumers.

China Watch is a joint initiative of the Worldwatch Institute and Beijing-based Global Environmental Institute (GEI) and is supported by the blue moon fund.