China: 20% of Our Arable Land Is Polluted

scott

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-20-of-our-arable-land-is-polluted-2014-04-17-204853558?link=MW_home_latest_news

""The national soil situation overall does not offer cause for optimism," said the report. "In some areas, soil pollution is relatively severe. The condition of arable land is troubling, with the problem of pollution from industry and mining particularly worrisome."

While China's problems with air pollution are well-documented, environmentalists have warned about the effects of less-visible contamination of the country's land."

"So much polluted soil means China will likely have to begin importing more food. "China will need to ease pressure on its natural resource base and import more of its food over the long-term," said Fred Gale, an economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. "Agriculture is impacted by industrial pollution but also creates a lot of pollution itself," he said, citing waste and ecological damage caused by China's growing taste for meat."

Old_Joe

If a government- any government- admits to something being 20% bad you can bet that it's much worse than that.

MourningStars

Important to check food labels for country of origin now and even more so in the future. Would also know the country of origin for farm raised fish.

Old_Joe

You bet!

JohnChisum

It's always good to check the country if origin but in today's manufacturing process, it is hard to tell if any outsourced components came from China. A good example is peanut butter. Most of the peanuts come from China but the peanut butter is made in the USA.