“The term ”food safety" is no longer unfamiliar to Chinese citizens. In recent years, successive incidents such as toxic milk powder, gutter oil, and the precocious puberty scandal have repeatedly tested the psychological limits of an already anxious public.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11268/
“China's food market suffers from a certain degree of information asymmetry, making it impossible for people to determine whether the food they purchase is safe. As economic income continues to rise, Chinese citizens are paying increasing attention to their dietary health, and this demand for food safety assurance has given rise to the emergence of closed-loop organic farms.” Meng Zhaoli, chief researcher of the Industrial Technology Group at the Samsung Economic Research Institute of China, stated in an interview with China Industry and Economy News.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11268/
The so-called closed-loop organic farm is a farm operating under the CSA model. Unlike traditional agriculture, food consumers establish a direct economic relationship with food producers, with no intermediaries involved. Consumers must sign an agreement with the farm at the outset of production, pay farmers a certain production fee, and share the risks of agricultural cultivation with the farmers. Chemical fertilizers are prohibited in the agricultural production process, and fully transparent green organic production must be achieved.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11268/
This green organic agriculture model has been developing in the United States for 20 years, while in China it remains at an exploratory stage. In 2008, Renmin University of China and the Haidian District Government jointly established the Little Donkey Civil Farm in Beijing, becoming one of the first typical CSA-model farms in China.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11268/
Shi Yan, founder and director of the Little Donkey Civil Farm, told a China Industry and Economy News reporter, “The farm is currently developing well, and its income and expenditure have reached a balance. The farm's customers are divided into two types: regular shares and labor shares. We use organic fertilizers such as vermicompost and sesame paste residue, achieving fully ecological agriculture, and both types of customers can supervise the farm's production processes.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11268/
Shi Yan told the reporter, “The concept of the Little Donkey Civil Farm is still relatively new, but this model of production can provide customers with a reliable guarantee of food safety. Customers with labor shares can also come to the farm on weekends to work on the land they have leased, which after all satisfies people's need for a certain pastoral sentiment and is also a way of leisure.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11268/
“I have been living in Beijing for more than 10 years, and every day I am squeezed into the city working busily. Weekend rest is nothing more than going out for dinner with friends or surfing the Internet. If there were a farm where I could cultivate and relax, I believe it would be a good place to go,” Mr. Gao, a businessman in Beijing, told a China Industry and Economy News reporter after learning about the Little Donkey Civil Farm.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11268/
According to the reporter's investigation, every Saturday and Sunday in Beijing, citizens can be seen driving to the suburbs to purchase agricultural food products produced by local farmers. The reason for buying vegetables in the suburbs is simply that they are “greener, healthier, and safer to eat.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11268/
However, problems also exist in the development of closed-loop organic farms. Wen Tiejun, dean of the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development at Renmin University of China, once pointed out, “China's CSA-model farms require consumers to pay in advance, which differs from the traditional consumption model of paying and then taking goods. Changing the concept of consumption patterns is a major issue in their development.”文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11268/
“China's closed-loop organic farms are still not high in terms of development scale and awareness,” Meng Zhaoli stated. This model of production and consumption exists only in Beijing and Shanghai. If greater improvements can be made in publicity and distribution models, its development potential is unlimited. Today's booming group-buying consumption method can be applied to the development of closed-loop farms. Of course, in the fully transparent production process, modern supervisory means such as electronic monitoring should also be incorporated to gain the trust of more consumer groups.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11268/
Analysis by the Samsung Economic Research Institute of China points out that before 2000, China basically had no domestic organic agricultural product market, and more than 95% of organic agricultural products were exported through organic trade. Over the past 10 years, organic food has developed rapidly in China, with China's organic food sales reaching 200 billion yuan in 2009. The business model of closed-loop organic farms is increasingly recognized by people. If closed-loop organic farms can effectively form alliances with the catering industry, they will expand into a broader market.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/am/11268/