Recovering the good Earth: China's growing organic market
Although China's agricultural reputation has been tarnished by widespread reports of food tainted with pesticides and other contaminants, the country is undergoing a rapid expansion in the production of and market for organic food. Spurred in part by growing demand for organic products from other nations, China now devotes more than 28% of its agricultural land to "eco-foods," which include organic foods as well as China's domestic "green" and "hazard-free" categories of food. In the face of the growing global organic food market, international agencies and national leaders are calling for harmonization of organic food standards among nations as well as increased investment in food research.