Producing green
By Eddie Kasner
China
Last Wednesday and Friday, PEAC staff and I visited two large vegetable farming operations near Kunming. One employs 1,500 workers and the other 500. The larger of the companies also carries one of the numerous versions of organic labels in China: "无公害疏"...roughly, "no trace of environmental pollution" or "no environmental pollution negligence". While these operations are quite different from each other and the small farmers I'll be interviewing in July, it gives insight into how China is meeting the evolving demands of food consumers. At present, there are relatively few problems with food security here. In fact, many of the products from these farms are exported to other Asian countries and Europe. With the mass exodus of young people leaving farms for the cities, this balance could be disrupted in the future. Perhaps the most striking difference between large scale Chinese and U.S. farming operations is that hands are largely used in place of machines.
Besides providing background for farming in China, such visits allow for the opportunity to work out challenges of conducting a survey in the countryside (e.g. language, structure of farms, and cultural issues). Based largely on the Farm Family Exposure Survey, my survey (with any luck) will document pesticide use in the methods of small family farmers in one village in Yunnan, which is infinitesimally small on the scale and diversity of farming in China today. At best, results will provide PEAC with a small reference point and a chance for extrapolation using the Farm Family Exposure Survey.
In the meantime, I have been preparing a presentation on risk assessment and offering help at the office. Thus far, duties largely evolve around English: correcting English translations of a book about women's issues in farming, offering advice for PEAC's website, helping with Latin scientific name pronunciation, and holding daily chats with three PEAC staff members who will soon be attending conferences abroad.
This weekend is PEAC's 6-month evaluation forum: a three day retreat outside Kunming where staff and other experts and government officials are invited to hear about the organization's progress. Next Tuesday afternoon, I will meet with representatives from YHDRA to see about project possibilities and give a small presentation about life as an environmental public health student in the United States. They're also looking for help with work related to English. On Thursday, I plan to visit another organic farm called Haobaoqing. On Friday, I will visit an organic food distribution center run by foreign nationals called Green Kunming. I also plan to set aside a day or two to roam the Chinese countryside, see rice farming in action, and practice surveying techniques. Until next time.
Vegetable intercropping in the countryside near Kunming:
Vegetable countryside near Kunming from eddie kasner on Vimeo.
Greenhouse farming:
Greenhouse farming from eddie kasner on Vimeo.
Planting machine:
Planting machines from eddie kasner on Vimeo.
For SPHers, "This is Public Health":
This is Public Health from eddie kasner on Vimeo.
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Comments
Hi Eddie, very interesting...it looks like you are learning alot about chinese farming. how is the pizza over there? see you on august 5th...love, Tony
Good stuff Kas. Keep it coming. A picture (or video I guess) is worth a thousand words. Make Good -brever
Hi Eddie, it looks look you are having an excellent experience there just as we thought you would. The various farming techniques in use appear to be well-developed. Your videos are coming across with high definition -- looking forward to future postings.
This is fascinating Eddie! How much area did the veggie farms cover? With that many employees I would assume their fields/greenhouses cover quite a bit of space. Or maybe not?
Also, how do China's agricultural exports compare to ours in the US? I kind of naively assumed we were pretty unique in how much food we produce that is exported. Is China really similar because it has so much land (like the US)? Keep having wonderful adventures. I'm really enjoying learning about everything you're doing over there.
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