A Word About Garlic from China
- christascott097
- Oct 12, 2018
- 2 min read
Before Heading to Wally World for Garlic, Consider This:
About one third of the garlic in North America comes from China.
Most, if not all of the imported garlic that comes from China is bleached to whiten the garlic and stop sprouting.
It is also fumigated with methyl bromide to kill insects and plant matter. According to the UN, methyl bromide is 60 times more damaging than chlorine and is the base of CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons).
China is one of the largest garlic growers, producing around 500,000 tonnes a year.
Garlic produced in Yongnian County, in Handan, Hebei, the centre of garlic production, is often sprayed by two illegal pesticides called prorate and parathion. This saves the farms time and effort, but puts our health at risk.
In 2014, an official government report showed that over one fifth of China’s soil is contaminated by arsenic and cadmium, two heavy metals that have a variety of health consequences.
Almost all major rivers in China are tainted by large amounts of industrial chemicals and household waste.
Henry Bell, of the Australian Garlic Industry Association, notes that “some garlic growers use raw human sewage to fertilize their crops..."
Garlic can sit in storage for over 1 year before you actually eat it. Buying garlic that has been sitting this long means that you aren’t getting the beneficial compounds, like allicin, which is the main thing in garlic that makes it one of the most powerful antibiotics in the world.
So, what's the solution? Grow your own garlic, or even better, support your local Farmers and get your garlic directly from them! Yes, Atchison Farmers Market has several vendors who sell local, organic garlic! To your health! Source: https://livelovefruit.com/how-to-spot-chemical-laden-garlic-from-china/