The Hualien County Government's Agriculture Bureau formed an alliance with the Su Hang restaurant chain in Taipei yesterday to promote non-toxic farming and the idea of sustainable development.
Lin Ching-shuei (
The Su Hang restaurant is famous for its Jiangsu-Zhejiang cuisine.
PHOTO: CNA
"We hope that the general public will associate products of non-toxic farming with `health and quality,'" he added. "We expect this kind of cooperation will create a win-win situation for consumers, restaurants and farmers."
Non-toxic farming in Taiwan was launched by Hualien County Commissioner Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山) in 2004 to provide agricultural products that are grown organically without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or livestock feed additives. The certification process is in accordance with legal standards to maintain soil productivity and control pests.
There are several differences between organic farming and non-toxic farming -- regular tests are carried out by 15 qualified inspectors on the farms rather than having samples submitted by farmers themselves as is the case with organic farming testing.
In addition, all products must pass an examination 10 days before going to market. Non-toxic farming includes agriculture, fish and livestock, while organic farming focuses more on agricultural products.
"There are three goals of promoting non-toxic farming -- to let consumers eat healthy food, to protect the environment and to help agricultural transformation," said Chen Hsiou-ching (
She said non-toxic agriculture is high-quality agriculture that not only guarantees an income for farmers but also pushes the economic development of Hualien County.
"It is also a concept of sustainable development," she said, adding that "with the increased incomes, more and more farmers will want to become involved in non-toxic farming and therefore our environment will improve."
Besides "green" agricultural methods, all products of non-toxic farming use environmentally friendly packaging materials such as polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable resin that is derived from cornstarch.
Chen said that every product has an agricultural practice certificate in the form of a sticker that shows the traceability of the product -- who grew it, and when and how it was made.
"By knowing where the product comes from, consumers feel safer and many of them have become regular customers," she went on.
Chen added that the non-toxic farming project has also generated a surprising windfall, in that "many farmers gain an enormous sense of accomplishment after switching to non-toxic farming because they are playing the role of a `food doctor,' providing healthier food to their customers."
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS