Beijing is gearing up for a five-year campaign to give the
capital’s residents healthier food.
Most Beijing people would have previously scoffed at the idea that
agricultural products such as vegetables and fruit should be sold
under registered brands, but they will have to get used to the
idea.
All food sold in Beijing by 2005 will have to meet strict quality
standards, Zhao Fengshan, a top rural work official, said
Thursday.
Before that, Beijing will concentrate on securing the quality of
seven main food types used daily including vegetables, fruit,
grain, meat, eggs, milk, and fish. Officials will check on products
from their production to when they are served at dinner tables.
“Although the overall quality of food in Beijing is good and people
should feel safe, we have to do better to catch up with world
standards now that hunger is no longer a major problem,” said
Zhao.
“Beijing should dedicate its future agriculture to the production
of green food which meet international standards.”
By
doing this, the city will improve ordinary people’s lives. Beijing
also hopes its annual food exports will exceed 10 billion yuan
(US$1.2 billion) by 2005.
Beijing was made a pilot city this April by the Ministry of
Agriculture in a national campaign dedicated to improving the
overall quality of the country’s agricultural products.
Quality defects have resulted in Chinese agricultural products
taking up only a small share of the international market, and have
even led to them being barred from certain markets.
However, the latest campaign might prove difficult for farmers who
have been accustomed to aiming for increased output rather than
concentrating on quality.
It
is hoped they will learn that being slow to change will mean only
losing market advantage and money, said Zhao.
The 3,000-odd vegetable planters in Shunyi District’s Liqiao Town,
which was selected as a pilot base for the Beijing campaign last
year, reported gains made without having to increase output.
Their average household revenue for the year was more than 20,000
yuan (US$2,400), at least three times the city’s average for
farmers.
(China Daily 06/01/2001)