A few years ago, organic food was still an emerging concept for the general public. Now, with the improvement of people's living standards and the pursuit of a healthy diet, organic food is gradually making its way onto the dining tables of the masses. A reporter recently learned in Changchun City, Jilin Province, that
organic food has received particular favor from the general public this winter.
Consumers are optimistic about organic food; sales have grown since the beginning of winter. “I feel that organic food is very important to human health, because organic food does not contain chemical fertilizers or pesticides, and is very safe and healthy to eat,” said Li Qinghui, a resident of Changchun City, Jilin Province. Organic food is currently a relatively unified international term for pollution-free natural food, referring to food produced and processed according to organic farming and processing methods, prohibiting the use of chemically synthesized pesticides, fertilizers, hormones, food additives, etc., and prohibiting the use of products and derivatives of genetic engineering technology. On the 25th, the reporter saw at some organic food stores in Changchun that organic foods such as rice, dried noodles, honey, fruit juice, and vegetables were not only diverse but also attracted many buyers.
Cui Haiyan, store manager of the Changchun sales office of an organic food company in Jilin Province, told the reporter: “The reason why so many ordinary people choose organic food is that living standards have now improved, and their consumption concepts are also different. What people emphasize more is healthy eating and a healthy life.”
The reporter learned at some organic food stores in Changchun that due to the favor of the public, sales of organic food in Changchun have been rising since the beginning of winter. Today, healthy and pollution-free organic food can be seen on more and more people's dining tables.
Expert interpretation: Health and longevity depend on organic food.
What benefits does eating organic food have for the human body? To understand this, let us first hear agricultural experts explain what harm vegetables and fruits produced with chemical fertilizers and pesticides do to the human body. The answer will then naturally emerge.
According to Liu Ling, associate researcher at the Vegetable Research Center of the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, the pesticide currently mainly used by vegetable farmers is organophosphorus. Organophosphorus harms the human nervous system, and the neurotoxicity it produces can also trigger adverse metabolic reactions in the human body. If vegetables and fruits with excessive organophosphorus pesticide residues are consumed over a long period, they can damage the human liver and kidneys. The cultivation of vegetables mainly uses nitrogen fertilizer, that is, urea. After plants absorb this chemical fertilizer, they are basically unaffected, but after people eat chemical fertilizer residues on vegetables, part of it can be converted in the human body into nitrosamine. Nitrosamine is a strong carcinogen and can lead to stomach cancer or esophageal cancer. According to testing by relevant departments, at present, vegetables produced in the Beijing area rarely have excessive pesticide residues, while vegetables entering Beijing from other places are more seriously affected, with unqualified vegetables reaching 60%.
At present, vegetables and fruits eaten by ordinary people, such as kiwifruit forced to grow larger with swelling agents, tomatoes ripened with reddening agents, and hydroponic vegetables grown without soil using chemical fertilizers, are all harmful to human health. It is precisely because organic food does not use organic substances such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides, nor does it use genetically modified species, that it neither has known harm to the human body nor unknown potential harm from genetically modified species. Of course, the process of producing organic food also includes giving back to the environment. Its cost is often higher than that of ordinary food, and its market price is also somewhat more expensive, but many consumers are still willing to buy organic food. One reason is that people consider it as spending money to buy health; another reason, to a large extent, also includes people's concern for environmental safety. These are all benefits that eating organic food brings to people.
Worsening environmental pollution leads people to choose organic food.
According to agricultural experts, in earlier years, China's environmental protection focused on urban areas and industrial pollution prevention and control, and rural environmental protection work was not placed on the agenda. In recent years, it has gradually been recognized that pollution caused by chemical fertilizers, pesticides, plastic film, and other materials used in agricultural production itself is relatively serious. At present, the focus of national environmental protection is mainly that the amount of chemical fertilizer applied is excessive, but the utilization rate is relatively low, generally only 30% to 40%, while the rest enters the environment and water, causing pollution of lakes and reservoirs. In addition, after excessive application of chemical fertilizers enters groundwater, it becomes strong carcinogens such as nitrate and nitrite, affecting human health. These pollutions have affected the quality of agricultural products and also affected people's health. In addition, chemical substances such as preservatives and pigments used in food processing are also harmful to the human body. It is precisely based on these factors that China must develop organic agriculture and provide healthy and safe organic food for the people.
The organic food industry is gradually becoming Jilin agriculture's “money tree.”
During the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, Jilin Province, with the advantageous resources of Changbai Mountain, “moved” the entire Changbai Mountain into its pavilion, focusing on the concept of green, environmental protection, and abundant natural resources. Behind this was the determination of this major agricultural province to make the concept of organic agriculture bigger and stronger. Many green and organic foods from Jilin Province also took advantage of the opportunity to enter southern markets. Products such as Jilin's wood ear mushrooms, ginseng, deer antlers, and wild vegetables also focused on the health concept by obtaining organic certification and Expo recognition, breaking into the mid-to-high-end consumer market.
Jilin Province is a well-known major province of agricultural resources in China and a major province for the production and processing of green, high-quality, and safe agricultural products. It is also an important national commodity grain base and a key ecological demonstration zone under construction. The province has 5.58 million hectares of cultivated land, 7.865 million hectares of forest land, and 3 million hectares of grassland, with a forest coverage rate of 42.5%. It possesses the three unique advantages of great forests, great granaries, and great grasslands, with good ecological resources and superior development environment. Its resources in grain, livestock, forestry, specialty products, and medicinal materials are extremely rich, and the development of the green food industry has great advantages and potential.บทความมาจากFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/th/11309/
Reprinted from China Food News / January 3, 2011 / Page 008. Reporter: Xin Ming.บทความมาจากFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/th/11309/