The China Syndrome (PART 2)

So we’ve ascertained that China has a food problem. But how on earth does the 4th largest country on earth with some of the most fertile land on this little marble be unable to feed it’s billion or so mouths?

Blame Globalisation

Chinese citizens, like many developing nations has been exposed to the sweet nectar of western foods. Fatty, high protein, sugar laden, corrupting foods that taste good yet do nothing good for your insides.

Where as 20 years ago your Chinese neighbour was happy with rice & wheat, today they’ve become addicted to high protein meat and exotic vegetables. Growing these foods uses a massive amount of land, resources & water – land that was originally being used for growing staple foods like grains.

No Land

Despite having over 9.5 million sq/km of land, 50% of which is Arable, China oddly has nowhere near enough fertile ground to grow food for its people.

The average Chinese citizen used to require around 0.2 acres of land to grow their food while today with their new western diets now require over an acre. Add this to the fact that China equates to 7% of the world’s population and it quickly becomes clear they need every sq/m to grow stuff for a more demanding population.

Weirdly however, total arable land actually decreased by 60,000 hectares in 2017 and has been following the same trend over the past 6 years! Why!?

A slice of the land pie

With ambition come sacrifice. China wants to be the biggest economy on earth

by the next decade and a means to that end is via industrial, residential & commercial development. People want to improve their lives, live in bigger homes, work in better companies, celebrate big and eat well.

These aspirations require land, lots of it. And wealthy corporate fatcats are more of a priority and have more clout then poor low productivity Chinese farmers. The result is the eating away of desperately needed arable land by new mega outsourced factories and concrete jungles.

 

Reverse the problem?

I’m afraid it not that simple. Rapid industrial development (plus a lack of regulations) has left large swathes of once agricultural land + water unfit for human use.

3.3 million hectares (that’s the size of Belgium) are deemed too polluted to grow crops. Add another 10 million hectares which are contaminated by heavy metals.

 

Reverse Outsourcing

East Africa, The Midwest of America, Australian greenbelt….. China has bought it all. Fertile Land ladies and gentlemen – China needs its so it can grow the food they country cannot. Millions of acres of prime arable land in almost every continent now grows food for the great Chinese appetite – playing constant catch up.

Such is the suction of Chinese land grabs that it is putting pressure on global & initially unrelated food sectors such as grain to feed their increasing appetite for meat.

The rise of Imitators £$€

With exploding domestic demand in China outstripping supply, certain individuals have seen an opportunity to cash in. With the philosophy of ‘People need to eat,’ certain Chinese producers have put profit margins infront of product quality and the results are questionable / even dangerous foods being eaten by the population.

And with globalisation and increasingly exotic diets, the plates of those in international markets are now being flooded with poor quality produce.

The Solution

9.7 billion people by 2050. That's a lot of increasingly picky mouths to feed. With China it is easy to point the finger as they display today the food no no’s the West possessed in the past. With excess demand unfortunately comes increased greed, profit driven greed.

In the short term these problems will eventually be solved. The raise of higher productivity farming methods, vertical gardening etc. Indeed one unseen advantage of Chinese overseas operations has been the adoption of Western technologies and food safety standards, something that will undoubtedly filter back to within Chinese borders.

Maybe however, this is torch shining a light on a bigger global problem - modern diets. Meat heavy, high water usage, imported versus domestically produced foods are now found in every corner of the planet. They put added pressure on an already overstretched farming industry and the problem will get worse.

Maybe it is time to adopt a new diet – one of localised, technologically rich, green veg and low meat with in season availability and no nasty chemicals. So in a way….. bad Chinese products may have inadvertently just saved the world?