Food Safety and Agro-Environment in China: Perceptions and Behaviors of Farmers and Consumers - INTECH

178 Pages·2016·5.31 MB·English

by  Nanseki T.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Food Safety and Agro-Environment in China:
Perceptions and Behaviors of Farmers and
Consumers

Edited by Teruaki Nanseki and Min Song,

ISBN 978-953-51-1000-2, 176 pages,

Publisher: InTech,

Chapters published March 06, 2013 under CC BY 3.0 license

DOI: 10.5772/54633

The prediction of China's rise is the subject of this book. The main ideas of this book are derived
from Kanshokufuji, a new concept proposed by the chief editor of Prof. Nanseki, pertaining to a
sound food system in a sound agro-environment. It implies that food supply and demand are
non-separable in terms of location due to the importance of retaining the suitable condition of the
environment and biodiversity in the region. This concept is necessary and useful for coping with
environmental issues and related food safety issues. From this view point, several integrated
surveys in both rural and urban areas of China were conducted by the food risk research group at
the Research Institute for East Asia Environments (RIEAE), Kyushu University to reveal the
current status of the environment, food, and agriculture in this country. The results of the surveys
are introduced in this book, along with implications and recommendations. We hope this book be
referential for policy-makers, researchers and industry personnel relating to food, agriculture and
environment.
BOOK CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Food Safety and Agro-Environment in China:
Perceptions and Behaviors of Farmers and Consumersby Teruaki Nanseki and Min
Song
FOOD SAFETY
AND THE AGRO-
ENVIRONMENT IN CHINA:
THE PERCEPTIONS AND
BEHAVIOURS OF FARMERS
AND CONSUMERS

Edited by Teruaki Nanseki
and Min Song
Food Safety and the Agro-Environment in China: The Perceptions and
Behaviours of Farmers and Consumers
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/56022
Edited by Teruaki Nanseki and Min Song

Contributors
Dr. Teruaki Nanseki*, Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Japan
Dr. Min Song, Professor, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese
Academy of Agricultural Sciences, P. R. China
Dr. Tinggui Chen, Associate Professor, College of Economics and Management, Shanghai
Ocean University, P. R. China
Dr. Dongpo Li, Assistant Research Fellow, Institute of Rural Economics, Hebei Academy of
Social Sciences, P. R. China
XiaoouGao, Assistant Research Fellow, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional
Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, P. R. China
Dr. Hui Zhou, Assistant Research Fellow, Institute of Agricultural Economic and
Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, P. R. China
* Corresponding author (e-mail: [email protected])

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First published March, 2013
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Food Safety and the Agro-Environment in China: The Perceptions and Behaviours of
Farmers and Consumers, Edited by Teruaki Nanseki and Min Song
p. cm.
ISBN 978-953-51-1000-2

Contents

Preface VII
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Min Song and Teruaki Nanseki
Chapter 2 Critical Issues of Food Safety
and the Agro-Environment in China 15
Dongpo Li, Hui Zhou, Min Song and Teruaki Nanseki
Chapter 3 Situation and Determinants of Agro-Environment 35
Tinggui Chen and Min Song
Chapter 4 Farmer Behaviours Toward
Food Safety and the Agro-Environment 53
Dongpo Li, Tinggui Chen, Hui Zhou and Teruaki Nanseki
Chapter 5 Farmer Perceptions on the Safety of Agricultural Products 77
Xiaoou Gao and Min Song
Chapter 6 Farmer Perceptions on Risk Sources and Management 87
Hui Zhou and Teruaki Nanseki
Chapter 7 Consumer Perceptions on Food
Safety and Demographic Determinants 105
Dongpo Li, Tinggui Chen, Hui Zhou and Teruaki Nanseki
Chapter 8 Consumers' Risk Awareness and
Willingness to Pay for Certified Food 121
Hui Zhou and Teruaki Nanseki
Chapter 9 Awareness Comparison
Between Farmers and Consumers 141
Hui Zhou and Teruaki Nanseki
Chapter 10 Risk Governance System for
Food Safety in Japan and China 151
Teruaki Nanseki and Min Song
Index 165

Preface

Is the 21st century going to be Asia’s century, especially of China? The world is greatly
concerned by this question, which is difficult to answer. According to Sommer
(2006) [1], “A power shift from the West to the East is in the offing. A new world order
is taking shape. The 21st century is still young. The Americans are hoping for a second
American century. But perhaps – given the rise of Asia, especially China – they will have
to settle for an American half century. Only one thing is certain: the second awakening of
China will bring about a power shift in the world.” This prediction of China’s rise is the
subject of this book.
When we ponder the answer to the question, we need to consider important facts
stated in Sommer (2006) [1]: “Asia was the birthplace of the three Abrahamic religions.
Epoch-making inventions and discoveries had reached the West from there… but this was only
one side of the coin. Simultaneously, Asia was seen as static, inert, immobile… the Asia-Pacific
region has become a model of modern development dynamics. Japan started first.”
Is the environment an important issue in Asia? Kyushu University established the
Research Institute for East Asia Environments (RIEAE) in 2009. The president of the
universitystated the reasons for establishing the institute in Arikawa (2009) [2]:
“Currently, the entire world, especially the East Asian region, is facing serious environmental
damage. This damage involves various issues including air pollution, river and marine
pollution, waste problems, and food contamination—issues too numerous to innumerate in
full—and which is far beyond an individual researcher’s capability to address. Integrating
relevant members of the university as an organization through the cooperation of relevant
research institutes as well as the support of private companies, RIEAE is conducting a range of
activities with an eye on making a social contribution at the national level to practically solve
these environmental issues, which have become complicated.”
What is the contribution of this book? The main idea of this book is Kanshokufuji—
(cid:9108)(cid:14551)(cid:2905)(cid:2983) in Japanese and (cid:10719)(cid:20239)(cid:1085)(cid:1212) in Chinese. This new concept proposed in Nanseki
(2008) [3] pertains to a sound food system in a sound agro-environment. It implies that
food supply and demand are non-separable in terms of location due to the importance
of retaining the suitable condition of the environment and biodiversity in the region.
This concept is necessary and useful for coping with environmental issues and related
food safety issues.
IX Preface

Food science, considered as a branch of agricultural science in its broad meaning,
has made valuable contributions to food safety. However, in the real agro-food
chain, agricultural products may be contaminated by environmental pollution, to
which agricultural production may contribute. This dilemma implies that
contemporary science is still missing the point of an agro-environment for crops and
livestock in that agriculture production including agrochemical utilization, food
processing and marketing, food consumption, and residue processing need to be
viewed as a whole system. In this sense, the concept of kanshokufuji is also useful and
needed in environmental science to prevent environmental damage as well as enhance
food safety.
From this view point, several integrated surveys in both rural and urban areas of
China were conducted by the food risk research group at the RIEAE to reveal the
current status of the environment, food, and agriculture in this country. The results of
the surveys are introduced in this book, along with implications and
recommendations. This book presents the beginning of our research, and we are
happy to receive comments from our readers. Finally, the authors gratefully
acknowledge the financial support of the RIEAE, Kyushu University.

Teruaki Nanseki
Faculty of Agriculture,
Kyushu University,
Japan

Min Song
Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning,
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,
P. R. China
References
[1] Sommer T. Is the 21st century going to be the Asian century? ASIEN 2006; No.100:
70-78 (http://www.asienkunde.de/).
[2] Arikawa S. Message from the President, Kyushu University, Research Institute
for East Asia Environments 2009: http://www.q-eaep.kyushu-u.ac.jp/
message/en/.
[3] Nanseki T. Perspective of information technology for food safety. Japanese Journal
of Agricultural Information Research 2008; 17 (4): 161-170. ( in Japanese)