Farm to table in China

This sounds familiar; a politician is talking about produce safety, and for good reason. This time, the dialogue is in another language. Here is the link to a report from China about "farm to table" food safety of fresh fresh produce.
From the story:

Chinese President Hu Jintao urged Party and government officials to ensure that farm produce is safe and strict agricultural standards are enforced at a meeting on Tuesday.
Hu Jintao, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said quality control of farm produce all the way from field and barn to consumers' tables is vitally necessary.
Hu, presiding a working group of members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said applying strict agricultural standards is crucial to ensuring all 1.3 billion Chinese have enough safe food.
After listening to lectures by two experts on agriculture and food science, Hu called for better monitoring of environmental conditions in major farm producing areas.
China must produce more chemical-free produce and green food, Hu said, noting that farmers should be taught to use fertilizers more cautiously and scientifically.


TK: China's many small farmers make it challenging for the country to educate and communicate about food safety, and there are numerous there have been numerous illness outbreaks related to misuse of inputs. Here is the link to a story about pesticide misuse in China. Meanwhile, the drumbeat about food safety and FDA oversight continues in America. Here is a Reuters story looking at how Congress may cut off salaries of some FDA officials if things don't improve.