Russian Roulette with Chinese Vegetables

I really try to support local food wherever I go. I don’t as much care about the organic aspect of it, because as I saw today there is nothing growing here that could ever be called organic. I will truly try to keep this as short and informative as possible so hang on tight. It will be a depressing ride:

First some general facts that might be important to know before going into details.

Farmers still make up 36.7 percent of the Chinese labor force

Great that was the fun part and now it gets depressing.

Here some excerpts from my thesis I wrote last year:

Since 1978 China’s use of chemical fertilizers has increased sixfold from 8,840,000 tons in 1978 to 57,470,000 in 2007. Despite this immense increase, only 30 percent of fertilizer applied to agricultural crops are used effectively.

The International Cooperation on Environment and Development found that approximately 1.23 million tons of nitrogen are being discharged annually into Chinese rivers and lakes.

China’s average fertilizer consumption on cultivated land is 356.7 kilogram per hectare, which is twofold of the maximum amount of fertilizer consumption in developed countries.

BASICALLY a lot of nitrogen and other chemicals from the really terrible fertilizer runs into rivers and lakes without getting any treatment. This is a vicious cycle since it decreases the nutrients in the soil, will produce a lower yield, which will lead to farmers using more fertilizer. Not included in this mathematical equation is all the waste that gets into the plants from the ground water. (Pictures can be seen below)

So based on this research I did I knew that I should not expect anything too exciting from a so called organic farm near Dali and rest assured I was not wrong.

The family decided to be one of the first families in the valley to not use chemical fertilizer. However, everything really did not add up all that much.

1.) Their crops were planted right next to a runoff from other farmer’s field, which was so polluted you could smell the chemicals. Here a picture I took of this problem:

 Here another stream right next to their crops:

2.) The family bought the fields a year prior from a farming family that had used chemical fertilizer. This had decreased the biological matter in the soil so much, that plants had little chance to grow strong without the use of it. Here a side by side comparison of the two.

 (The left ones are without fertilizer) 

By the way: the USDA requires the soil to rest for 3 years before vegetables can be planted on the fields if they should be organic. 

 I really loved their enthusiasm about the whole thing and it is definitely great that locals start to realize the issues surrounding chemical fertilizer. But sadly I doubt that this will go anywhere. The plants on their fields are just as polluted from chemicals as their neighbors’ vegetables that do use fertilizer. I think they underestimate how far a watershed spans and what that means for their plants.

 Needless to say I helped them harvest carrots and I ate one despite everything I saw. I eat vegetables in China almost everyday and I know what I am putting in my stomach is not too good for my health, but what should be the alternative to that?

This is where the Russian Roulette aspect comes in.... you never know what will happen when eating Chinese vegetables. 50 percent chance of your stomach being nice to you. 

My only advice is to check the origin of your food when you are at the super market the next time. Make sure that it doesn’t come from China…. Sounds crazy, but trust me….. especially the garlic.

Next post I will post some pictures of a failed attempt to clean the Erhai lake. It’ll be just as unsettling as the agricultural crisis. 

Fun Fact of the day: Government Officials have their own designated farmers who will only grow veggies for them. Those veggies are 200% organic with no chemicals in them and watered only with the best water. The officials know whats up and don't want to eat "peasant vegetables" themselves. ... Pretty terrible if you ask me. 

To end things on a good note: A dog with puffy PJs on! 

Dali In The Morning

Restaurant with the best Plum wine in town!

A Whiskey A Day Keeps The Parasites Away

I was in Shenzhen in 2012 for 6 months and became the lucky person to host not one, not two, but three different kinds of parasites in my stomach. I believe there are different causes for this:

1.)  Firstly I was eating gutter oil (yes, people open the sewer and suck off the oil that swims on top of the sewage) for 6 months probably twice a week.

2.)  Someone successfully made me drink water from a mountain spring and after writing my thesis on ground water pollution the following semester I realized that I am lucky I didn’t land in a hospital with dysentery.

3.)  I drank a ton of freshly squeezed fruit juice, because I am addicted to that goodness and there was no way that Shenzhen would also take that happiness from me. But fruit juice is made by dropping the entire fruit with skin into the machine.

So basically I am a bit naïve when it comes to food safety. I believe that one experiences culture best through the stomach and I still stand by that. However, this time I prepared myself the right way:

At the duty free store at the airport in my hometown I treaded myself to a bottle of Glenfiddich single malt scotch. I have been hearing rumors that it apparently sterilizes the stomach and makes it easier for the food to be digested. (Really not a hard conclusion to make based on the alcohol content) But, the food in Yunnan is also a lot better than anywhere else in China so it generally is safer to eat whatever you want.

Diarrhea (or in China called Laduzi = pull stomach in Chinese) is the passionate travelers best friend and is sure to follow you everywhere you go. It can have many causes and does not necessarily always mean that the quality of the food is bad. It can simply be because of the different spices.

My stomach did feel funky after my first two meals, but rest assured the sipping of my loyal whiskey helped clear up the problem! The past days I have had a sip (and I mean a sip…. No need to get drunk after breakfast) after every meal and I feel actually REALLY good. I think I have never had such a smooth transition into Chinese food in China before. But I have only been here for 2 days so we will see how it will continue.

For now I am satisfied with my attempt to make my stomach happy. And who doesn’t want an excuse to sip whiskey from a beautiful flask handed down by ones father? 

A few guidelines to the new beginning

I am not quite good at keeping things going that are not always necessarily fun to do. I like to keep my thoughts to myself and try to deal with them in the quietness of my own mind. However, its 2014 and if anything this year promises changes. I want to keep this blog going, post things I am thinking about and make it interactive by including pictures and other things. (As you can tell I haven't thought about this really all that much)

BUT, I generally dislike blog posts dwelling on the greatness of exposing oneself to new worlds and doing new things. Generally no one seems to care anyway so I will try to make this fun for everyone involved and for whomever happens to stumble on this random blog. Here a few rules I will try to keep going throughout the next 6 months:

- SHORT and CLEAR: English is my second language and I just had to deal with advanced english writing in the disciplines for the last 6 months at my university. The comas will be placed at random and I will not spend time editing the hell out of my posts. I will write what is on my mind and not care about the transition of paragraphs.

- ..... I really should have thought about the rules before writing this. But I think that is another thing: I won't be planning my posts all that much and just write as I go.

ANYWAY. You get the picture I think. Here we go!