garlic from china

littlema

Why oh why......with the EU in the state it's in, surely we should be able to buy the really tasty garlic that can be grown throughout the region (including here in season) instead of only the China import??!!!!
I have tried to buy anything but China garlic 'cos it's irradiated to hell and it's come right round the world, but it's nigh on impossible!!
I won't even get started on the ginger for my rhubarb jam........!!!!!
Maybe if we could start asking for Spanish, Italian French garlic, we could get it here instead of cheap,tastless, irradiated but often still mouldy garlic!!!!!:(

maxer68

grow your own (quite easy) or look for the single bulbs / organic garlic.


Also, find a local greengrocer - better product, better prices. - If you're anywheer near portlaoise there's a great green grocer just off the town centre car park. (huge french grown garlic bulbs)

dudara

Moved to Food & Drink

dudara

gbee

Grow you're own might not be feasible, even if it is easy, but having done a bit of vegetable growing in the past ~ you won't get better than by pulling a few carrots n onions and cooking them for dinner or lunch ~ it's makes me want to go back it, but it's hard work and the discipline is severe, but the rewards are the most delicious things one could ever hope to eat ~ for those accustomed to buying the super, that is naturally.

I'd not be worried about the irradiation, it's better than freezing and has a distinct lifespan ~ I would be more worried about the Chernobyl fall out that has irradiated harmfully and it has not gone away.

It's IMO an option of having food irradiated from a clean source that receives the right type of exposure and the correct level of exposure to the harmless radiation than buying even Irish veg that has cesium and plutonium on them from Russia.

It's almost a fact of life now that with the Atomic Bomb testing, the various nuclear accidents, the explosions of nuclear civil and military power plants that almost nowhere in the world has really clean food, either fish, livestock, fruit or veg.

the beer revolu

gbee wrote: »

It's almost a fact of life now that with the Atomic Bomb testing, the various nuclear accidents, the explosions of nuclear civil and military power plants that almost nowhere in the world has really clean food, either fish, livestock, fruit or veg.

Well, that's cheered me up no end!:(

Corsendonk

little ma wrote: »

Why oh why......with the EU in the state it's in, surely we should be able to buy the really tasty garlic that can be grown throughout the region (including here in season) instead of only the China import??!!!!
I have tried to buy anything but China garlic 'cos it's irradiated to hell and it's come right round the world, but it's nigh on impossible!!
I won't even get started on the ginger for my rhubarb jam........!!!!!
Maybe if we could start asking for Spanish, Italian French garlic, we could get it here instead of cheap,tastless, irradiated but often still mouldy garlic!!!!!:(

Proof?

littlema

Just google "garlic from China" and see all the stuff I found after posting on Boards, we are not the only ones concerned about airmiles, shop local and zapped food!
Thanks for info on local produce-i planted some in a small plot this year but they are a long way from the "pot" yet and I don't live near Portlaoise.
However, I am endeavouring to get a shop in Carrick-on-Shannon to get EU stuff and help Mrs Merckle keep us all afloat!;)

Corsendonk

little ma wrote: »

Just google "garlic from China" and see all the stuff I found after posting on Boards, we are not the only ones concerned about airmiles, shop local and zapped food!
Thanks for info on local produce-i planted some in a small plot this year but they are a long way from the "pot" yet and I don't live near Portlaoise.
However, I am endeavouring to get a shop in Carrick-on-Shannon to get EU stuff and help Mrs Merckle keep us all afloat!;)

Ahh the internet is a wonderous place of information and misinformation. :pac:So you don't really have any relevant sources to quote for your "irradiation" allegation? As I said countless times everytime someone brings up irradiation of produce, it is an expensive process so its main use is for high value foods such as spices. Where food is irradiated it is required to carry the below symbol, EU goverment agencies test food for Irradiation based on risk ratings so China as the World No 1 irradiation user will be tested fequently.



Is it safe?
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency

Criticisms have been levelled against the procedure, with some arguing that irradiated foods haven´t been scientifically proven as safe for long-term consumption. But David Byron, Head of the IAEA´s Food and Environmental Protection Section says, "We look at irradiation as a form of pasteurization. It´s like any other food process. There are no residues, no radioactive material.
"It has been one of the most rigorously studied food processes in history. It´s been used for 50 years. In fact, it´s been used to treat foods eaten by astronauts in space."
Russia began irradiation of fruits, vegetables, spices, cereals, meats and poultry in 1959, and many other countries began using the process in the 1970s. Thailand began irradiating onions to delay sprouting in 1971. This was followed by the irradiation of fermented pork sausage, known as nham. Also in 1971, South Africa began irradiating potatoes, onion, fruits, spices, meat, fish, and chicken. Israel approved the irradiation of animal feed in 1973, and Japan began marketing irradiated potatoes in 1974. China is currently the biggest user of irradiation.
World trade in agricultural, fisheries and forestry products totals some $480 billion each year. Now the IAEA is aiming to strengthen the national capacities of FAO and IAEA Member States in applying irradiation to control insect pests in exported fruits and vegetables (phytosanitary treatment) and for the control of bacterial contamination as well as extending food´s shelf-life.

FSAI

Analysis of 294 food samples in 2009 identified 4 foods that had been irradiated but were not carrying the required labelling.

Of the 4 to fail, 1 was a seasoning/stock, 2 were Herbal Tea/Tea/coffee and 1 was Herbs/Spice.

Irradiation Testing in Ireland 2009 Link


So your point is not just about irradiation of foods but air miles? Well one reason why we have Chinese garlic is that its so plentiful and available when we need it, its a free trade world. I can buy Chinese Garlic in Dublin on the wholesale market at the same price as Spanish. China as you can see from the table below is way ahead of everyone else in volume. Also its not just fresh garlic that comes from China, 90% of the worlds garlic puree comes from China.

Source: Wiki

Top 10 garlic producers — 11 June 2008CountryProduction (tonnes)Footnote
China12,088,000F
India645,000F
South Korea325,000F
Egypt258,608F
Russia254,000F
United States221,810
Spain142,400
Argentina140,000F
Myanmar128,000F
Ukraine125,000F
World15,686,310A

Nanazolie

Regardless of whether the Chinese garlic is irradiated or not.... Why do we fly food that is available in Ireland, or at least Europe, from faraway places? Spring onions from Mexico? Beans from Kenya? Potatoes from Israel?

Corsendonk

Nanazolie wrote: »

Regardless of whether the Chinese garlic is irradiated or not.... Why do we fly food that is available in Ireland, or at least Europe, from faraway places? Spring onions from Mexico? Beans from Kenya? Potatoes from Israel?

Good question, because we are spoilt for choice, we now as consumers demand produce 356 days of the year or so the supermarkets that import these products tell us. So now I can have fresh Egyptian strawberries on my Xmas trifle. Years ago we would have cooked with the seasons but now people get upset if they can't find certain fresh produce in shops or if its not a certain visual quality level.

So its air freighted in from warmer climates when Europe is too cold for production or with the case of certain products like the baby veg from countries with cheaper labour costs as well as warmer climate. The Irish season on certain produce such as strawberries has been extended with investment in glasshouses but ironically the carbon foot print may be worse as they have to use increased fossil fuels at the start and end of season to maintain temps. So best to go back to eating what is in season and preserving your own grow your own if you want a more varied diet in the winter.

maxer68

From report on Silver Hill Duckling Emyvale, co. Monaghan

"the feet and tongues are sold to China"

So we buy their Galic, they buy our duck tongues & feet. Fair trade!:D

Alun

maxer68 wrote: »

From report on Silver Hill Duckling Emyvale, co. Monaghan

"the feet and tongues are sold to China"

So we buy their Galic, they buy our duck tongues & feet. Fair trade!:D

I wondered where they came from .. I had a big plate of ducks tongues in Szechuan once (only found out after I'd eaten them what they were!) and thought that there would have to be an awful lot of ducks killed to make that one dish

luohaoran

I lived in Shandong and SiChuan, two of the main food producing provinces in China, for three years.
I had a motorbike in Shandong, and spent a considerable amount of my free time riding it cross-country, farmland, over a wide area.
Coming from a farming background I was curious to see how they coped with the excessive air and water pollution and general lack of water.
The areas I travelled were mostly irrigated from canals and lakes fed by the Yellow river.
Very little water falls from the sky during the growing season, so the water quality in the irrigation channels can inform you as to what is actually going into the plants. (Never mind the incredible air pollution)

The water was black. Every where I went. Even in SiChuan where the rainfall is higher, all the water channels I saw, the water was black.
I'm not just talking about a large river with dark looking water, I'm talking about how it looked on a micro scale too, where it was flowing into the crop fields.

Shandong produces a lot of garlic, and they eat an enormous amount of it too. You could be given two or three bulbs to spit roast with your fresh goat kebab, or a cabbage dish with maybe 6 or 7 bulbs in it (to be shared between two people). So I'm guessing they export some of it from Shandong, ( I haven't actually looked it up, as the whole of Norther China was similarly affected with polution and Shandong was certainly the most prevalent user of garlic of all the regions I was in)

If I can help it , I never buy Chinese food produce, no matter how much cheaper it is. This extends to seafood too. They produce enormous amounts of shell fish and crustaceans (e.g. prawns) in man made holes in the ground in the coastal provinces in the south, like Fujian. These holes tend to be treated with a large amount of chemicals, to keep the stock healthy. When a particular pond becomes too infested with lice or disease or the stock cease to thrive, the farmer just digs a fresh hole and starts again.

In short, as far as sea food is concerned, I pay over the odds to get wild produce, and will only buy EU produced food in general. It has its faults and loopholes, but the standard of production and the checks and balances put on it are way ahead of anywhere else in the world. (The extra cost of this bureaucracy is largely why food from further afield can "compete")

So never mind about airmiles, free trade, or irradiation. Just buy food that you know is produced in the cleanest environment in the world. Yes , Ireland. Or the next best, Western Europe.

And before anyone suggests it, I'm an Electronic Engineer, and have no vested interest in Irish food production.

Nanazolie

Thanks luohaoran, it's great to hear this from someone who has experienced it first hand.
I too am buying products from EU (with the exception of exotic fruits like mangoes, bananas or pineapples), with Irish products, and when possible, local products, at the top of my list. I won't buy Spanish cherry tomatoes or strawberries, because we can produce them here, but mostly because Spain has destroyed a great deal of land and animal habitat for intensive culture.
My kids love strawberries, or any berry indeed, but I teach them to wait for the growing season in Ireland. We even grew 2 strawberry plants on our balcony so they understand why they can't have them all year round.

I'm with you too on the shelfish: why buy prawns from Honduras, Ecuador or Thailand when we can fish them here, and provide work to our fishermen?