Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ19: Organic food

Following is a question by the Hon Joseph Lee and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (February 7):

Question:

I have learnt that the catering and food industries actively promoted organic diet in recent years. Large organic food supermarkets have opened, and organic foods are also introduced in chain supermarkets and restaurants. It has been reported that some residents of Home Ownership Scheme estates have also set up nurseries in the estates concerned to grow organic vegetables. However, some members of the public have related to me that with the middle-class families as the major sales target of the organic food market, the grass roots and students have little opportunity to access the relevant information. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) apart from the technical support it currently provides to the industries (including the local organic farms and the Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre), whether the Government has promoted an eating culture with organic diet through other measures, and whether the Government has assessed if such measures are adequate to enable more members of the public to learn about local organic agricultural products and the benefits of an organic diet; if it has, of the assessment results;

(b) whether it will formulate a policy to take forward an eating culture with organic diet; if so, when the relevant policy will be formulated and implemented;

(c) whether it will consider informing the public (including the grass roots) through the media of organic food products and assisting them in making dietary choices out of a variety of food, as well as strengthening its cooperation with District Councils or the Housing Authority to encourage residents to participate in the Community Garden Programme, and to provide support in organising organic food fairs on a trial basis in more districts; and

(d) whether it will consider specifying the promotion of organic diet as one of the objectives of the EatSmart@school.hk Campaign, a programme to promote healthy eating habits in primary school pupils; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a)&(b) Information on organic food is published by different Government departments in their course of work. The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has published leaflets on organic food for public information and run a feature on the subject in the third issue of the Food Safety Bulletin (Quarterly Edition) in 2006. Other related organisations such as the Vegetable Marketing Organization (VMO), and the Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre under its subsidy have also provided information on their websites on local organic produce, such as outlets for local organic produce and recipes.

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has encouraged farmers to cultivate safe and quality vegetables in order to open new markets and enhance competitiveness. Organic farming stresses farming in harmony with the Nature and uses seed selection, crop rotation, compost and natural pesticides to resolve production problems, which facilitate sustainable agricultural development in the long term. The AFCD will continue to offer technical assistance to local farmers to help them convert to organic farming. It has also joined VMO, the local organic farming sector and other voluntary organisations in actively marketing local organic produce to the general public. The VMO also promotes an independent certification scheme for local organic produce through the Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre and organises education activities to advocate the concept of organic living.

Despite the efforts of the AFCD in assisting farmers to engage in organic farming, local organic food production remains very low. Taking locally produced organic vegetables as an example, the daily production in 2006 was only about 2.5 tonnes on average, which accounted for only about 0.18% (1 420 tonnes) of the total daily consumption of vegetables. As for imported food, the diverse certification standards for organic food in different places/countries and the lack of an international mutual accreditation mechanism have hampered the circulation of organic produce in the marketplace.

Moreover, overseas studies show that food grown organically do not have any significant differences in respect of nutrition and food safety, though they may differ in terms of intrinsic food hazards (e.g. pesticide pollution and microbiological content). To maintain good health, it is in the final analysis essential to eat a balanced diet that includes a wide variety of food to ensure sufficient intake of various nutrients necessary for health.

On account of the above, the Government has difficulty in drawing up a policy for promoting organic food as an integral part of our diet. Nor do we have any plan to assess the effectiveness of publicising local organic produce and the advantages of eating an organic diet.

(c) The ACFD has always encouraged the local trade to organise farmers' market for organic produce. The Federation of Vegetable Marketing Co-operative Societies Ltd has joined Kadoorie Farm in holding Farmers' Market for Organic Produce at Tai Po on Sundays since April 2005. The Hong Kong Organic Farming Association and the Wan Chai District Council also jointly held a Farmers' Market in Wan Chai in December last year. On January 20-21 this year, the local trade, AFCD and VMO have jointly organised a Farmfest 2007 at Fa Hui Park of Mong Kok, which attracted over 120 000 visitors. It is hoped that the sale success at the Farmfest will encourage more local producers and district organisations to organise more farmers' market for organic produce in the urban areas. The Home Affairs Department will consider, subject to the views of the District Councils and the local situation, to help locate suitable venues for holding farmers' markets for organic produce.

(d) The "EatSmart@school.hk" Campaign, launched by the Department of Health (DH) in September 2006, aimed to help children develop healthy dietary habits; encourage schools to offer healthy lunches and snacks; strengthen nutrition education; and facilitate healthy development and effective learning amongst children. Knowledge about healthy diet and nutrition has been incorporated in secondary and primary education at different stages. To further students' understanding of the impact of science and technology on human health, we also encourage teachers to discuss with students topical health issues, including organic food, with a view to inculcating in them a positive attitude towards healthy diet.

The healthy dietary habits advocated in the Campaign are developed in accordance with the requirements in Nutritional Guidelines on School Lunch for Primary School Students, which attach high priority to the nutritional value of food and observance of the "3 Low, 1 High" principle, i.e., low sugar, low salt, low oil and high fibre.

Take vegetables and fruits as an example. One of the goals of the Campaign is to require caterers to offer at least one serving of vegetables every day and two and a half servings of fruits every week in the lunches for students. Given the supply constraint and relatively high cost, we do not have any plan to include organic food in the goals of the "EatSmart@school.hk" Campaign at present. However, the DH has kept in touch with lunch caterers and learnt that some caterers have been supplying organic food to students. The DH welcomes this practice.



Ends/Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:30

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