La Replica in Costruzione
ToscanaFriday, October 31, 2008
Replicating Toscana
La Replica in CostruzioneToscana
Monday, October 27, 2008
成都有機小市場
the Small but Growing Market
Podocarpus macrophyllus
In a desperate pursuit of safer food , I fled to Chengdu to attend the monthly Little Organic Market organized by CURA (Chengdu Urban Rivers Association, 成都河流研究會). The market was held in the courtyard of a vegetarian restaurant called Lotus on the Water （清水荷花）, which was located in another newly renovated historical district of the city - Wenshufang （文殊坊）, right beside the renowned Wen Shu Yuan, or the Mañju Bhuddist Temple（文殊院）.
There were only a handful of sellers and a small number of goods on sale/display. The fresh produce were from Anlong village （安龙村）(where CURA's pilot CSA project was based) and two other commercial organic farms. The rest were packaged foods and personal care products imported from Taiwan and the West - a miniature show of some popular items that one can find in a health food store in western countries. Most goods were sold at extortionate prices, making me feel as if I were in London again.
Indeed, one commercial farm sold their organic eggs at CNY40 (approx. USD6) per pack of 10. If I remember correctly, that was more expensive than the price at Tesco in London! I don't know how much the farm's actual cost was for producing those eggs. Maybe it was really that high. I just naturally resented the idea that healthy organic food should be reserved for the privileged few... Under the disguise of the "organic" label, corporate agriculture could easily mislead the "organic movement"...
One will be surprised to see the long list of certified organic foods if he takes a look at the website of China Organic Food Certification Center. However, most of the products are exported to serve the high end market and few are available to the "undeserving" masses who are only fed the fabulous "faked in China" junk...
Some volunteers prepared a vegetarian buffet lunch with the fresh produce brought in by the farmers. The menu consisted of brown rice, steamed wholewheat buns, steamed lotus roots with sticky rice stuffing, steamed taros and purple yams, boiled pumpkin and assorted blanched leafy veggies. I devoured my portion "like a prisoner who had just been set free" (my mother would have thus commented:) Healthy organic food tasted truely different and my body told me it felt great.
After the market, I escaped into Wen Shu Yuan and spent the rest of the afternoon there indulging in the tranquility and positive aura that pervaded the zen temple.
In the courtyard in front of one of the temple's many halls, I found two elegant Podocarpus macrophyllus （罗汉松）trees. Podocarpus macrophyllus trees don't grow very big. It is common to see them grown as shrubs but I don't remember seeing trees of this size anywhere before. They must be really old!
There were only a handful of sellers and a small number of goods on sale/display. The fresh produce were from Anlong village （安龙村）(where CURA's pilot CSA project was based) and two other commercial organic farms. The rest were packaged foods and personal care products imported from Taiwan and the West - a miniature show of some popular items that one can find in a health food store in western countries. Most goods were sold at extortionate prices, making me feel as if I were in London again.
Indeed, one commercial farm sold their organic eggs at CNY40 (approx. USD6) per pack of 10. If I remember correctly, that was more expensive than the price at Tesco in London! I don't know how much the farm's actual cost was for producing those eggs. Maybe it was really that high. I just naturally resented the idea that healthy organic food should be reserved for the privileged few... Under the disguise of the "organic" label, corporate agriculture could easily mislead the "organic movement"...
One will be surprised to see the long list of certified organic foods if he takes a look at the website of China Organic Food Certification Center. However, most of the products are exported to serve the high end market and few are available to the "undeserving" masses who are only fed the fabulous "faked in China" junk...
Some volunteers prepared a vegetarian buffet lunch with the fresh produce brought in by the farmers. The menu consisted of brown rice, steamed wholewheat buns, steamed lotus roots with sticky rice stuffing, steamed taros and purple yams, boiled pumpkin and assorted blanched leafy veggies. I devoured my portion "like a prisoner who had just been set free" (my mother would have thus commented:) Healthy organic food tasted truely different and my body told me it felt great.
After the market, I escaped into Wen Shu Yuan and spent the rest of the afternoon there indulging in the tranquility and positive aura that pervaded the zen temple.
In the courtyard in front of one of the temple's many halls, I found two elegant Podocarpus macrophyllus （罗汉松）trees. Podocarpus macrophyllus trees don't grow very big. It is common to see them grown as shrubs but I don't remember seeing trees of this size anywhere before. They must be really old!
Monday, October 6, 2008
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