Food Chain Radio Michael Olson

Urban Farming Agriculturalist

CHINA ORGANIC CERTIFICATION

How much of the organic food we eat in the U.S. is contaminated with China’s toxic heavy metals?

This Poll is closed!!

Do you trust organic foods from China?

No, don't trust at all

Yes, if certified organic & sold at a big box store

Total voters: 37

*

92%

2%

Guest: Patty Lovera, Assistant Director, Food & Water Watch

Here is a math problem for you… If 20% of China’s farmland and 90% of its surface water are contaminated with toxic heavy metals, and if 1/3 of the organic food we import into the U.S. comes from China, then…

China Organic Certification: How much of the organic food we eat in the U.S. is contaminated with China’s toxic heavy metals?

How much of the organic food we eat is contaminated with China’s toxic heavy metals?

We Americans like it cheap, and we like it clean, and so we shop for food at the big box store.

Because we like it cheap, much of the food we buy at the big box store comes from China–  over 4 billion pounds a year, including 80% of the tilapia, 51% of the cod, 50% of the apple juice, 45% of the canned mushrooms, 31% of the processed garlic, and so on…

Because we like it clean, we buy food at the big box store labeled “organic,” and about 80% of the food certified and sold as organic is now imported from countries like… China!

But wait!  Though this cheap food from China may be labeled organic, it does not conform to Michael Olson’s Third Law of the Food Chain:  Cheap food isn’t!

The government of China recently made an admission that suggests why its cheap foods really aren’t cheap at all.  The government admitted that 20% of its farmlands, and 90% of its surface water, are contaminated with toxic heavy metals.

Now, we make mention of the government of China because, as a totalitarian communist regime, it owes no ethical obligations to a higher authority, like its citizenry, sister states, or God.  The government may therefore lie, cheat, and steal at will to further its own interests.

So, when the totalitarian government of China admits 20% of its farmlands, and 90% of its surface waters. are contaminated with toxic heavy metals, you know conditions must be a lot worse than is being admitted to, and so we ask…

How much of the organic food we eat in the U.S. is contaminated with Chins’s toxic heavy metals?

Tune in here, for the syndicated Food Chain Radio Show #967 Live on May 10, 2014 Saturday 9AM Pacific