chinese food

[Hopperbin]

http://mobile.businessweek.com/articles/2014-12-08/china-s-polluted-soil-is-tainting-the-countrys-food-supply#r=hp-ls

This topic does affect my decision to purchase chinese.

[Hopperbin]

China’s air and water pollution is more visible than its soil pollution and more often makes headlines. But recent government studies underscore the worrying extent of heavy-metal pollution tainting China’s agricultural lands—and its food supply.A new study from the China National Environmental Monitoring Center examines the results of nearly 5,000 soil samples from vegetable plots across China. Roughly a quarter of the sampled areas were polluted. The most common problem is high soil concentrations of heavy metals—such as cadmium, lead, and zinc—which leach out from open mines and industrial sites and into surrounding farmland.Plants grown in tainted soil can absorb heavy metals. People who ingest high levels of heavy metals over an extended time can develop organ damage and weakened bones, among other medical conditions.Another recent study by the nonprofit Changsha Shuguang Environmental Charity Development Center found that farmland in the southern Hunan province contains more than 200 times the level the government deems safe. Hunan is one of China’s most important rice-growing provinces.In April, China’s environmental ministry released the results of a 5-year nationwide soil study, which found that 19.4 percent of the country’s farmland was dangerously polluted.

[LEP]

My wife and I made the decision several years ago not o knowingly buy any food produced in China.

I am sure we are still exposed to lots of chinese grown ingredients, but we try to minimize where we can.

[SASKFARMER3]

Started the same thing if it says china it goes back on the shelve! Some shit is really tough to find.
Companies listen up most people are going to figure it out and start doing the same. Canadian made or American or European might be the flavor of the day again some day. And mean something like it use to.
China always made shit!

[freewheat]

I see chinese organic food in the stores all the time. As if it is!!! lol!. Kind of an oxymoron, that. We do not buy chinese produced food either. Growing and hunting your own is the only way to truly know how your food is produced. I don't trust Chinese, but grocery shelves are full of dubious food from here and abroad. So we grow and hunt a lot of our own.

[furrowtickler]

I used to love oysters - but prob worse than chewing tobacco ginven the polluted water they are grown in.

[grassfarmer]

Maybe you should start thinking more seriously about how safe everything Canadian may be?

http://www.preventcancernow.ca/fracking-shale-gas-and-cancer-health-risks-at-every-step

[SASKFARMER3]

really grass, really!
Take a little trip to China breath in the air. Spit choke wipe your eyes because they are burning. Does that happen here!
FM

[HFL]

I'm just recovering from hip replacement surgery. My second one. In preparation for and recovery from surgery I eat lots of Oysters. They are rich in iron, really shows up in blood tests. Dr. Always says you have very strong Hemoglobin. I Believe it speeds my recovery. Just wish we could buy Oysters from somewhere other than China.

[foragefarmer]

Harper goes on countless trade missions to sell China our dirty oil. The Chinese refine the oil, the milk and honey air particles fall to the ground. The Chinese farmer's plant their crops in the contaminated soil and export them to Canada. We then consume the Chinese food products and complete the cycle. I realize that the Chinese soil has been contaminated by various industries, but when it comes to trading, you sell something to them, you are expected to by something back.

Is not the assurance of food safety fall on the laps of the Food Inspection Agency? Hmmmm!!! Many cut backs in the department. Is Harper concerned about food safety or just selling oil?

Freewheat

Kudos to you, but the vast majority of Canadians can't open their back door and shoot wild game,raise their own livestock, or have land to grow a garden. What are they suppose to do?

There are many variables to this subject of safe food and purchasing of food for each and every Canadian consumer so please keep that in mind.

[grassfarmer]

Maybe you need to look a little harder SF3. The Daunheimer case at Didsbury, AB where fracking and flaring of sour gas wells caused half the families goats to abort, their hens refused to drink the water and one of their children developed a large tumour on their neck. Don't know if it was the flaring of toxic substances or the 326,000 litres of diesel invert "lost" down one of the wells.

Did you know that the use of highly toxic things like Benzene in the fracking process are conveniently allowed by your Canadian Government because chemicals used in gas/oil exploration are exempted from Canadian Drinking water guidelines?

Easier to blame those foreigners with their third world standards though.

[ado089]

Grassy, don't forget all the dangerous silica they pump down there too.

[grassfarmer]

At least the silica is safe down hole. Unfortunately not so in the areas where they mine it - like Wisconsin which is said to be producing 90,000 semi loads a day. Or the small central Alberta community where a wall at the frac sand depot collapsed and was just left for a couple of months allowing access for little kids to play in this deadly "sand pit".
No regulation, no enforcement just reckless industrial development with no regard for the environment or human health - rather like China in fact.

[freewheat]

Forage farmer: Heck, it is not just city folks. Most farmers around here have no idea how to raise or shoot their own food anymore. Ten minutes to feed the pigs or hens takes too long I guess. And besides, it interferes with the winter trips to Hawaii, Jamaica, etc..

What are they supposed to do? Get an acreage and raise some of it, drive up to the forest and bag a moose or elk. Change from a materialistic viewpoint, and get er done! Not that hard really.

Lol. I have a book from the 30's about farming in Canada. It mocks farmers who do not have a large garden, a few hogs, a bunch of chickens, and something to milk. It is a lifestyle choice, not at all an impossibility, IMO!

[blackpowder]

I still maintain it would be in Canada's best interest to send every citizen to China for a two week tour. Excellent perspective. Although much is officially hidden.
Remember before you criticize, they want what we have and will get it as quickly as possible. A responsibility to hungry people. Not unlike our attitude over 100 years ago.

A lot of products are shipped as products of other countries.