Key takeaway:Organic food and organic farms have become all the rage in Taiwan, and Taiwanese people are now putting the same drive into developing organic agriculture that they once put into growing the economy. As you sip a cup of organic herbal tea in Taiwan, it is hard to imagine that the island was once known as the “pesticide kingdom”. “The pesticide pollution in Taiwan was so severe, and it had a lot to do with US aid back then!” explains Daisy Dai, executive director of the Dai Yan-hui Cultural and Educational Foundation.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Driven by the market, an increasing number of farmers in Taiwan are shifting to growing organic produce.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Eating organic food, growing your own vegetables and visiting organic farms has become a trendy lifestyle in Taiwan. When people are unsure whether the chicken they are eating contains antibiotics, the beef comes from mad cows, the pork from foot-and-mouth disease-stricken pigs, or how many pesticides have been sprayed on their greens, Taiwanese people have long since taken action. Those with some spare cash and the means have started carving out their own farms in cities where every inch of land is at a premium; those without the space or means grow boxes of hydroponic vegetables on their balconies. Aside from the virtual Happy Farm, people are now talking about their very own real-life “organic farms”.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Sunshine Ama's Experimental Farm文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
In January, the cold wind in Taiwan was biting, yet Chou Mei-hui and her husband, Tai Tung-hsiung, were busily at work in the fields, thoroughly enjoying themselves. Wearing wellington boots and tending the land, one of them was a former design professor at Shih Chien University, while the other had served as a Grand Justice of the Judicial Yuan and a leading authority on Taiwan's civil law. Now, approaching seventy, the couple were personally out in the fields growing vegetables and promoting organic farming that turns food waste into gold. Having lived in Germany for over a decade, Chou Mei-hui was influenced by the German scientist Rudolf Steiner (who introduced the concept of Biodynamic Farming in 1924 and is a pioneer of modern organic agriculture) and has been promoting organic farming in Taiwan. “If we don't do it today, we'll regret it tomorrow!” said Chou Mei-hui.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
“I feel that simply buying ingredients from organic shops still doesn't give me one hundred percent peace of mind, so I decided to do it myself!” Over a decade ago, she began promoting home-grown vegetables in Taiwan. She converted her villa in Sanzhi into a renewable energy demonstration house and also established an experimental farm in Zhongli. More than ten years ago, when the "garbage war" broke out in Zhongli, Zhou Meihui and her friend Zhuang Yulong jointly promoted methods for turning food waste into gold.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Located near the South Garden Hotels and Resorts in Zhongli, the experimental farm sits on land provided by Chou Mei-hui's student. Under the technical guidance of Chuang Yu-long, the scale of the experimental farm gradually took shape. A custom-built wind turbine tower was erected next to the farm, supplying all the electricity needed for the entire site. The water in the ecological pond is sufficient to irrigate crops across the whole area. “To eat healthily, there must absolutely be no pesticides. Aside from destroying the pH balance of the soil, pesticides also trigger cancer-causing growth factors in the human body!” Chou Mei-hui emphasised. Therefore, the fertilizer used within the experimental farm consists entirely of organic compost made from food waste. Pointing to piles of black soil next to the farm from which wisps of heat drifted in the distance, Chuang Yu-long explained that these are “golden compost” formed by collected food waste after months of fermentation.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Chou Mei-hui's “composting technical guide”, Chuang Yu-lung, is the chairman of the Taiwan Farm Management Association. Having won the Ten Outstanding Agricultural Youths of Taiwan award, he has a deep understanding of Taiwan's agricultural development over the decades and really knows his stuff when it comes to growing great vegetables! “My secret is compost!” said Chuang Yu-lung. “We once went to Taipei's Fujih Fishing Port to ask for rotting catch to make compost, and the vegetables grown from it were exceptionally lush and delicious!” There is a lot of science to composting: fish catch has the highest protein content, while dead leaves are low in it. At the same time, the compost must reach a high enough temperature for the organic matter to ferment, and insect eggs within it must be eliminated so they don't affect the future growth of fruits and vegetables. A good compost must be managed during the fermentation process so that it doesn't produce a foul odour. As for animal excrement, there are also varying degrees of quality; taking cow manure as an example, its moisture content is high, while the organic matter and nutrient content are too low, meaning the resulting compost is not as nutritious as that made from pig manure...文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
In Taiwan, there are still many people passionate about promoting organic farming like Chuang Yu-lung and Chou Mei-hui, but over 20 years ago, the extent to which Taiwanese agriculture suffered from pesticide damage is hard for us to imagine today.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
In Zhou Meihui's experimental farm, there is a specially made wind turbine tower base, and the electricity for the entire farm is supplied entirely by this wind tower.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Polychlorinated biphenyls spark green movement文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Older generations of Taiwanese people still have vivid memories of the PCBs poisoning incident, as it was this event that triggered a series of green movements in Taiwan. In the summer of 1979 in Taichung, unscrupulous operators used rice bran oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to make cooking oil. After many people consumed it, it caused skin ulcers and blackened skin, with victims numbering in the thousands. From then on, the people of Taiwan began to pay comprehensive attention to the sources of their food. That year, aside from the PCBs poisoning incident, a fake alcohol incident also occurred. Professor Chai Sung-lin then made a rallying call, gathering several lawyers, professors, and scholars to jointly establish the Consumers“ Foundation, guarding consumer rights in Taiwan.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
The Consumer Foundation has begun randomly testing a variety of products on the market twice a week, ranging from dried goods from the north and south and traditional Chinese medicine, to even betel nut betel leaves, brides' rose bouquets, vegetables, and fruit. They pay for these market products out of their own pockets and send them to professional testing institutions for analysis, regularly holding press conferences to make the inspection results public. Because the Consumer Foundation is a non-profit corporate foundation with no commercial motives, the data it publishes commands a high level of public trust among consumers. It is precisely due to the birth of the Consumer Foundation that the competent authority, the Department of Health, also began randomly inspecting various foods on the market and reporting on them to the public.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Five or six years after the establishment of the Consumers“ Foundation, another social incident occurred in Dali Township, Taichung, Taiwan, where residents, protesting against pollution from the San Ho chemical plant, broke into the factory to demand a work stoppage, forcing the Taiwan authorities to establish the Environmental Protection Administration.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
“The pesticide pollution in Taiwan is so severe, and it has a lot to do with US aid back in the day!” explained Dai Meihui, Chief Executive of the Tai Yanhui Cultural and Educational Foundation. Before the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, there was no custom of mass production using pesticides in Taiwan; even after being ruled by Japan for fifty years, the past natural cultivation methods were still maintained. “However, after receiving US aid, in order to increase crop yields, Taiwan introduced American-style farming methods, making heavy use of machinery and pesticides, which caused quite a bit of damage to Taiwan’s arable land,” added Zhuang Yulong.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
We have all seen scenes in films of Americans spraying cornfields with light aeroplanes, and Americans also brought this farming method to Taiwan. Furthermore, because Taiwan is situated in the subtropics and has a high number of pests and diseases, those pesticides imported from the United States were able to kill large quantities of crop pests and were favoured by Taiwanese farmers. Coupled with the fact that American-style chemical fertilisers could increase crop yields, they naturally became immensely popular during an era when agricultural exports were dominant. However, this production method relying heavily on chemical fertilisers and pesticides disrupted the original pH balance of the land and caused toxins absorbed by the human body to accumulate continuously.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
According to statistical data from the Department of Agronomy at Taiwan's National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan's average annual pesticide usage from 1990 to 1995 was 37,000 tonnes, costing 4.1 billion New Taiwan Dollars, ranking the highest in Asia and earning it the moniker “pesticide kingdom”. According to figures from the Consumers' Foundation, dividing the total annual pesticide usage by the population shows that every person in Taiwan accounts for 2 kilograms of pesticides each year.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
“For a time, major hospitals in Taiwan had dedicated toxicology departments specifically to handle pesticide poisoning!” said Chou Mei-hui. Chou had accompanied her husband to study in Germany, where she was greatly impressed by the promotion of solar energy and green industries. After returning to Taiwan, she strongly advocated for renewable energy. Coupled with the fact that her brother-in-law, Dai Tung-yuan, was the president of National Taiwan University Hospital, she had a profound understanding of the harm pesticide poisoning inflicted on the people of Taiwan.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Data shows that between 1959 and 1981, there were a total of 28,358 cases of severe pesticide poisoning in Taiwan, of which 26,877 were caused by spraying pesticides. These were predominantly parathion for weed control, organophosphates for insect control, and metal compounds for fungus control. Consequently, toxicology departments in Taiwanese hospitals in the past were quite experienced in treating such pesticide poisoning. “Back then, if a patient who was confused or had an accelerated heartbeat was brought into a Taiwanese hospital during the day, and they were dressed like a farmer, 99% of the time it was poisoning from one of those three categories!” said a senior toxicologist.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
These endless poisoning incidents played out in the media daily inevitably caused anxiety among the people of Taiwan, and the promotion of organic agriculture was officially introduced to Taiwan at this time. In 1985, the Taiwan government began assessing the feasibility of implementing organic agriculture in Taiwan, and in 1991 officially introduced Japan's most famous “MOA” natural farming method, followed by the emergence of so-called organic certification, at which point organic chain stores blossomed everywhere.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
“We grew these ourselves; they're even more flavourful than the spring onions from Yilan!” When it comes to farming, Dai Dongxiong is just as articulate as he is when lecturing on civil law on stage.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Green cultivation in Taiwan文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Use the top floor as a vegetable garden文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
It is popular in Taiwan to grow vegetables on balconies or apartment rooftops using polystyrene boxes or plastic basins, a practice known as “elevated planting”. This elevated planting involves using wooden frames to raise individual vegetable-growing plastic boxes, neatly arranging and stacking them on the frames. This completely resolves the problem of dirty runoff from watering and fertilising rooftop gardens previously staining the floor. The vegetable basins are also specially designed so that they will not be knocked over en masse by typhoons or heavy rain.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
In North District, Taichung City, an apartment complex named “Zuo You Feng Yuan” saw all 120 households vote ten years ago to convert its rooftop garden into a rooftop vegetable patch. They spent a considerable amount of money on roof waterproofing work. Once all the preparation work was complete, the residents turned the 660-square-metre rooftop garden into a vegetable patch. Any resident interested in growing their own vegetables could register with the property management committee and be allocated a plot of land. If someone lacked the time or grew tired of it, it did not matter, as other residents were always waiting in line to take over the plot.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Grow vegetables to sell to staff文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
In Shanhua Township, Tainan County, Taiwan's major panel maker Chimei Innolux has established a 40-hectare vegetable garden named the “Shanhua Nursery”, growing vegetables organically to supply Chimei's group catering. During peak harvest seasons, it also sells them to employees at cheap prices.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
In the south, Chi Mei Optoelectronics grows vegetables for its employees to eat, while in the north, the long-established Formosa Plastics is developing its own farm to sell organic vegetables. Formosa Plastics founder Wang Yung-ching made compost and grew organic vegetables on his own roof, and even independently developed food waste composting, allowing the lychee trees on the rooftop to flower and bear fruit. Before Wang Yung-ching passed away, a vegetable truck would drive into the office of Formosa Plastics' affiliate, Formosa Environmental Biotechnology, located in the rear building of the Formosa Plastics building in Taipei every three days, specifically to sell vegetables to Formosa Plastics employees.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Farmers transition to organic farming文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
In recent years, organic farms in Taiwan have been springing up like bamboo shoots after rain. To strengthen the online marketing and promotion of these guerrilla farms, the Council of Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Agency under the Executive Yuan even commissioned National Ilan University to build websites for these farms, establishing an “Organic E-commerce Mall”, “Organic Farmers” Market“, and ”Organic Farm Integration System" online. These markets and malls offer a dazzling array of organic products, including fruit and vegetables, rice, and tea. All daily agricultural produce can be purchased online, allowing consumers to know which farm their vegetables come from and to order directly from the farming households.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Influenced by government guidance and social trends, many farms that were not previously engaged in organic production are now starting to do so, and the “Biluocun Organic Farm” in Fuxing Township, Taoyuan County, owned by the Wu brothers, is one such example. Owner Wu Guoqiang inherited the agricultural land left by his parents. They put the land through seven years of fallowing to thoroughly let the soil rest and restore its original pH level, after which they applied organic cultivation methods and further expanded it into a sightseeing and leisure farm, becoming a special attraction in Fuxing Township, Taoyuan County. In Taiwan, there are many more examples like the Wu brothers.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/
Source: Nandu Weekly文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11307/