China’s Farms: ‘The Good Earth’ No More

A fifth of China’s farmland is polluted by industrial effluent, sewage, excessive farm chemicals, or mining runoff. There’s carcinogenic cadmium in the rice. Heavy nitrogen fertilizer use is turning the soil acidic and less productive.

Tom Philpott summarizes recent reports:

“6 Mind-Boggling Facts About Farms in China, Tom Philpott, Mother Jones

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Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-hcK

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com. Attention young people: The Good Earth is a novel by Pearl Buck.

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Tags: agriculture, China, environment, farming, farms, food, pollution, science, soil