OPINION: Food Scares
There is something inevitable about the health and food scares that Hong Kong people are experiencing, and it is no stretch to extend that to many other parts of the world. Eels and freshwater fish are the latest in a long line of tainted food that has included beef, pork, vegetables and cancer-causing food dyes.

Chandran Nair

The question on many people's lips is: "What next?" While that is natural enough, the proper questions ought to be: "Why is this happening, what are the underlying causes, and what can be done?"

The common denominator in all these scares is the mainland, particularly the Pearl River Delta. But our biggest source of fresh food is the victim of its own unrestrained entrepreneurial success. Paying the price are Hongkongers and, we must assume, mainlanders, too.

These food scares also carry a more urgent global message: people are clearly living beyond the ability of natural systems to cope, in providing for us. The food scares in Hong Kong are being caused, fundamentally, by a trend of rising over-consumption - and, with it, an attitude of people in the fast lane of prosperity that says: "If you can afford it, then eat it."

Granted, what and how much individuals consume is a delicate subject. But there are broader issues in play. On the one hand we have rapid economic growth, new wealth and increasing demand for food beyond basic needs. On the other, the "bread basket" of Hong Kong is still struggling with archaic and unhealthy animal husbandry conditions. This clash has pushed those who rear the animals for our tables to resort to unnatural methods to keep pace with demand.

When you add unregulated business environments and a rash of small operators struggling to compete, we have a lethal mix that undermines the integrity of the food-supply chain.

Some of the methods used to grow food faster, to satisfy demand, have become accepted practice. Others are less than savoury.

Malachite green - at the heart of the latest scares - has been used since 1936 to kill fungus in intensively farmed fish. Recently it has been banned in most advanced countries for fear that it causes cancer. Yet, chemicals and supplements are being used to feed the insatiable appetites of those enjoying unprecedented levels of prosperity, not the hungry millions in Asia. Perhaps we do not appreciate that with prosperity comes responsibility.

We are eating more than natural systems can provide, more than safe, ethical methods can supply, and the resulting need to rely on unnatural means has huge consequences for both the environment and our health. Bird flu is the most vivid recurring example, born of the mishmash of chemicals, viruses, animals and people living in close quarters in the delta.

But there are solutions: a combination of strong government intervention in all aspects of the food-supply chain; and public appreciation that when limits are exceeded, there is a price to pay.

At heart, there must be an extremely tough planning, regulatory, monitoring and enforcement regime. Hand in hand with that is the need for us to monitor meticulously the integrity of natural systems and to reach decisions on the ethical side of food production - just how far are we willing to go to feed ourselves or to over-consume?

When these are in place and enforced rigorously, the only concern for Hong Kong diners will be what to have for dessert.

Chandran Nair is founder and chief executive of the Global Institute For Tomorrow, an independent social venture think tank dedicated to advancing understanding of the impacts of globalisation.
www.globalinstitutefortomorrow.com/