Food experts long for return to agrarian traditions
- By Wu Jin
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China.org.cn, December 20, 2011
Neither American culinary philanthropist Alice Waters nor famous food author Michael Pollan expected that they would be challenged so profoundly by their seemingly modest Chinese co-panelist.
When a barrage of criticisms were raised regarding China's melamine and lean meat powder at a recent food sustainability forum in Beijing, Dai Jianjun, chairman of the board of directors of Hangzhou Thatched Cottage Catering Co. Ltd, fired mildly-toned complaints at America's mechanized agriculture system.
Dai said he saw America’s farmers as the "teachers of petroleum agriculture," adding that China couldn't be blamed for polluting its lands with pesticides and fertilizers. "We learned that from you," he told the American panelists.
Then, he went a step further, calling on the American panelists to advise President Obama to end industrialized farming, as well give up its practice of exporting transgenic corn to China, which has hurt Chinese growers' productivity. Such actions should be taken, Dai said, due to "America's guiding role" in the world.
In charge of two farms and a restaurant in rural Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, Dai is an enthusiastic advocator for China's old agrarian society. He founded the Academy of Traditional Farming, a registered non-governmental organization aimed at spreading awareness of the traditional Chinese classics, calligraphy, music and a traditional agrarian living style, which is considered eco-friendly and healthy. Preaching agricultural practices such as selecting the ingredients in line with 24 Chinese Solar Terms, Dai has attracted 5,000 farmers to join his movement.
Dai's program reminded Waters of organic farming in America. "Our roots in America with the first presidents were very deep in farming. There it is with [Thomas] Jefferson and George Washington," Waters said. She later said that America’s early agrarian tradition was largely replaced by fast, cheap, and easy food, which is not only unhealthy but contributed to the loss of sustainable farming practices.
"In the last 50 or 60 years, I would say really since the war, something really dramatic happened. Whether it is advertisements to children on every television program, or candy in schools or making food so cheap by subsidizing the big producers, [commercialization] is everywhere," Waters said.
Pollan said American agribusiness developed as a result of governmental policies, which over the last a hundred years, disrespected farmers and drove them off their land.
"I agree with what people are saying that lots of Americans learned from the traditional agriculture of Asia, because you kept the same land productive for thousands of years," said Pollan. "We have not figured out to do that, which is one of the reasons we fell to industrial fertilizer." Pollan also said he respected China's efforts to raise the status of farmers in modern society.
Dai agreed that it is very important to respect farmers. "It is an attitude that more urban Chinese should take," he said.
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