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12/5/12 Fearing Tainted Imports, Hong Kong Squeezes In Farms - NYTimes.com
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In OrganicHungry Hong Kong, Corn as High as anElevator’s Climb
Philippe Lopez/Agence FrancePresse
Plots like the rooftop City Farm are sprouting across Hong Kong amid fears of tainted imports.
By MARY HUIPublished: October 3, 2012
HONG KONG — Kimbo Chan knows all about the food scandals in
China: the formaldehyde that is sometimes sprayed on Chinese
cabbages, the melamine in the milk and the imitation soy sauce made
from hair clippings. That is why he is growing vegetables on a rooftop
high above the crowded streets of Hong Kong.
“Some mainland Chinese farms even
buy industrial chemicals to use on
their crops,” Mr. Chan said.
“Chemicals not meant for agricultural
uses at all.”
As millions of Hong Kong consumers
grow increasingly worried about the purity and safety of
the fruits, vegetables, meats and processed foods coming in
from mainland China, more of them are striking out on
their own by tending tiny plots on rooftops, on balconies
and in farflung, untouched corners of highly urbanized
Hong Kong.
“Consumers are asking, will the food poison them?” said Jonathan Wong, a professor of
biology and the director of the Hong Kong Organic Resource Center. “They worry about
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12/5/12 Fearing Tainted Imports, Hong Kong Squeezes In Farms - NYTimes.com
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the quality of the food. There is a lack of confidence in the food supply in China.”
Organic food stores are opening across the city, and there is growing demand in the
markets for organic produce despite its higher prices. There are about 100 certified
organic farms in Hong Kong. Seven years ago, there were none.
There is no official count of rooftop farms in Hong Kong, but they are clearly part of an
international trend. New York has many commercialized rooftop farms established by
companies like Gotham Greens, Bright Farms and Brooklyn Grange. In Berlin, an
industrialsize rooftop vegetable and fish farm is in the pipeline. In Tokyo, a farm called
Pasona O2 takes urban farming a step further: Vegetables are grown not only on roofs, but
also in what was an underground bank vault.
With 7.1 million people in one of the most densely populated cities on earth, Hong Kong
has little farmland and almost no agricultural sector. The territory imports more than 90
percent of its food. Hong Kong is hooked on vegetables, and 92 percent of its supply comes
from mainland China.
On a recent morning at one of Hong Kong’s bustling and chaotic fresh produce markets,
known here as “wet markets,” a woman bought three Chinese squashes for a good price.
“Vegetables are expensive nowadays,” she said wearily. “Even if I cared enough about
organic food and worried about chemicals, there’s nothing I can really do about it.”
Land is one of Hong Kong’s problems, of course. There is not very much of it, and only 1.6
percent is farmed, most of it in the New Territories, on the city’s far northern rim. And
even that acreage is under threat from developers.
A government proposal to develop the New Territories threatens to remove about 242
acres of farmland, according to a joint statement issued by green groups. This accounts for
about 13 percent of Hong Kong’s active farmland, they said.
People trying to start small organic farms in the New Territories have been deterred by the
lack of a clear agricultural policy there. Large vacant tracts held by developers can be
rezoned for development almost at will, creating an uncertainty that has scared off a
number of potential farmers.
Then there are the typhoons, the oppressive humidity, the boiling summers. Soil is another
problem.
“Imported organic soil isn’t suitable for Hong Kong’s hot and humid climate, and so we
had to adjust the soil,” said Osbert Lam, a commercial video director and the owner of a
rooftop operation called City Farm.
With a graying ponytail, Mr. Lam does not look like a typical farmer, but he is intensely
dedicated to his farm. He imported soil from Denmark and Germany, but for a year he
had to tinker, sift, mix and adjust before arriving at a suitable recipe.
Even so, he said, the formula is tweaked for different crops: “You need to add more sand
to grow potatoes, and more peat moss for strawberries. Each crop needs their own luxury
home!”
Another issue for rooftop gardeners is Hong Kong’s notorious bureaucracy, and many of
the city’s green thumbs are turned back by red tape.
“There is too much work in dealing with the government and the Housing Authority,” said
Mr. Wong, the organicfood expert.
Still, some urban farmers find the effort worth it. It cost Mr. Lam about 500,000 Hong
Kong dollars, or roughly $65,000, to set up City Farm, including all farming materials, an
office, piping and wiring. And the whole operation can be easily moved.
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12/5/12 Fearing Tainted Imports, Hong Kong Squeezes In Farms - NYTimes.com
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A version of this article appeared in print on October 4, 2012, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: InOrganicHungry Hong Kong, Corn as High as an Elevator’s Climb.
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“It’s a mobile farm,” he said. “I can have the farm here today, and move it elsewhere
tomorrow.”
Fourteen stories above the city’s urban din, on a rooftop the size of a couple of basketball
courts, City Farm flourishes with an impressive array of organic vegetables. Black plastic
planter boxes adorn the rooftop farm. Some are topped by large bamboo frames holding
bitter gourds and pumpkins, while others have little signs stuck into the soil, handwritten
with the names of herbs and their planting dates.
Made in Taiwan and looking roughly like milk crates, the planters come in three varieties:
shallow boxes for growing leafy greens and herbs; a deeper version for turnips, carrots and
potatoes; and raised planters that are easier on the farmers’ backs as they tend to their
plants.
On a recent walk through the beds at City Farm, Mr. Chan, who works there with Mr.
Lam, stopped at various plants, talking about them with the tenderness of a parent. He
pointed to some Okinawa spinach that he eats raw to reduce his blood pressure. Not far
away was a miniwatermelon plant, its fruit the size of PingPong balls and hanging
delicately from a bamboo frame, protected from insects by finely woven netting.
From a bamboo frame, Mr. Chan picked off a small Spanish chili pepper. After a quick
rinse under the garden hose, he eagerly offered it to a visitor.
“You develop a different attitude,” he said of cultivating his garden, “and it changes your
lifestyle.”
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