It is a rural tradition that faded out decades ago as Hong Kong turned into a neon-lit megacity: rice seedlings being dropped into watery paddy fields with gentle plops.
However, now a new wave of farmers are growing the staple again in sleepy Long Valley in the New Territories, where buzzing insects and flocking birds offer a rich contrast to the high-rise blocks in the distance.
Former supermarket supervisor Kan Wai-hong went from working late shifts to harvesting sacks of fragrant, golden rice.
Illustration: Mountain People
“In the past, people in Hong Kong grew rice,” Kan, 42, said about his move. “I could teach the people again and revive rice farming.”
The naturally farmed rice paddies started reappearing in Long Valley seven years ago after a 40-odd year absence.
Started as part of a bird-friendly wetland conservation project, five farmers now produce about 3 tonnes of rice a year near the border with Hong Kong’s biggest food supplier, China.
It is a mere drop in the 833 tonnes of rice that Hong Kong goes through every day, but it fetches several times the price of mass-produced imports as part of a growing demand for naturally grown food.
A relentless run of food scandals across the border — from rotten meat in fast food to dead pigs floating in rivers, recycled “gutter oil” and heavy pesticide use — has made people rethink the way they shop.
“When food safety in mainland China or even other places is not that good, then Hong Kong people will choose foods that are safer,” Kan said.
“The trend of society has changed, people have become more affluent and they care more about food safety — so more people have come into contact with these products,” he said of the more expensive organic fare.
One of the world’s most densely populated places, the territory imports nearly all of its food, with just 2 percent of its vegetables locally grown.
However, the number of organic-style vegetable farms has increased from a handful of trailblazers in the 1990s to several hundred today — of which 130 are certified as fully organic.
While still flown into the territory, homegrown organic vegetables now make up 12 percent of the 45 tonnes of vegetables the territory produces daily.
Shoppers are shrugging off that they cost more than their mass-produced counterparts.
“After learning that there are quite a lot of different kinds of pesticides or different ways of growing the plants, I think it’s better to have the organic ones,” Jenny Ho said while browsing one of several weekly organic markets.
“[The food] from Hong Kong does not have to travel so long, and is more fresh and delicious as a result,” she added.
Despite the shock of a melamine-laced baby formula scandal in 2008 that killed six infants, China’s scares have continued to flare.
Sixteen percent of the country’s land area was estimated to be polluted, according to the Chinese Ministry of the Environment in April, with almost one-fifth of farmland tainted by inorganic elements such as cadmium.
Among the latest alarms to fuel distrust are chicken feet soaked in hydrogen peroxide and a cook who painted dishes with a banned pigment to look more appealing.
Last year, Hong Kong authorities tested about 65,000 food samples and found only 57 from various countries to be unsatisfactory.
Best-practice supply farms are also identified on the mainland, and last month, new rules on pesticide residues came into effect.
However, apprehension remains.
“The government is doing quite a good job in Hong Kong,” Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre director Jonathan Wong said. “We’re scared, but we have a better control system now.”
“Food supply in Hong Kong is still safe, but we worry,” Wong added, blaming the regular mainland scandals. “This psychologically makes people in Hong Kong feel worried about the food supply from China.”
By 1980, 40 percent of farmland in Hong Kong was reported as abandoned and rice paddies made up less than 1 percent of what was in use. Today, a total of just 7km2 is being farmed.
While the government provides no farming subsidies, it has encouraged farmers to convert to organic and provides technical support.
However, shrinking farmland, also eyed by property developers, is often limited to small plots on short-term leases in the space-challenged territory, which is also home to rooftop vegetable gardens and vertical fish farms.
Farmer Thomas Fung lives in Hong Kong’s skyscraper sprawl and commutes to his New Territories patchwork of plots rented from six different landlords on leases ranging from two to five years.
It means even more pressure for the farmers, but those prepared to go organic to meet the city’s changing tastes acknowledge that the fears play to their favor.
“The people are quite afraid of the quality of mainland China veggies, so the demand is very, very big in Hong Kong,” said Fung, one of the territory’s self-claimed organic farmers.
Wong Yu-wing, whose nearby family farm is one of the largest to be fully certified, agreed.
“Organic planting is much better than the traditional method because Hong Kong people are looking for organic vegetables — fresh, planted in Hong Kong — so we have a big market,” Wong said.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations