Contemporary Issues, 2nd prize
Feeding China
George Steinmetz
20 June, 2016
Workers process meat in the main cutting room of Jinluo Meat, in Shandong, eastern China. China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of pork, and the market is growing rapidly.
Rapidly rising incomes in China have led to a changing diet and increasing demand for meat, dairy and processed foods. China needs to make use of some 12 percent of the world’s arable land to feed nearly 19% of the global population.
New technologies and agricultural reform offer a partial solution, but problems remain as farmers and the young flock to work in cities, leaving an aging rural population, and as land becomes contaminated by industry.
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