Recently, news about vegetables from markets and unregulated sources being "magically" smuggled into large supermarkets and organic food stores has caused a stir in public opinion. This information has angered and outraged people, as they have spent large sums of money buying vegetables at high prices in stores and supermarkets hoping to consume safe produce. However, their trust has been "betrayed" when the vegetables and fruits labeled as "clean" and meeting various criteria and standards turn out to be unregulated produce from wholesale markets, originating from distant China!
Meanwhile, the production of clean vegetables in greenhouses, safe vegetables, VietGAP-certified vegetables, and organic vegetables is facing a lack of buyers. Farmers are desperately searching for outlets but still struggle to find buyers because they cannot compete with unregulated vegetables in terms of price and appearance! And while people know that growing safe, organic vegetables makes them more susceptible to pests and diseases, and the vegetables are stunted and not as visually appealing as those sprayed with chemicals and treated with excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, they still choose fresh, green, and vibrant vegetables at the market. It turns out that this consumer habit has inadvertently "helped" contaminated vegetables thrive. This is considered a "disaster from the mouth" in the literal sense, as the number of people suffering from digestive diseases, and the number of cancer cases and deaths from cancer, are increasing…
Faced with these inadequacies and paradoxes of the market, Mr. Kim Nam, a farmer and pioneer in the organic vegetable farming model in Nam Dan district, pondered the idea of piloting a program tentatively called "Eat Vegetables in Advance." This means he needs to gather about 30-50 families to register to use his clean vegetables, giving him an advance of 500,000-700,000 VND per month (as a deposit, to ensure a stable market for the organic vegetables produced). He will then organize the production of clean, organic vegetables, ensuring a diverse range of seasonal products, supplying, processing, and shipping them directly to the registered households. The benefits for participating households are: access to clean vegetables with clear origins and at a reasonable price (because there are no intermediaries); no need to go to the market or supermarket (as they are delivered to their homes); and no need to pick vegetables (as they are already pre-processed). In particular, households are monitored and subjected to regular and unscheduled quality checks and tests of their vegetables. On weekends, they are allowed to visit the gardens, experience planting vegetables, catching pests, weeding, and harvesting vegetables to take home…
At first, I told him, "That's great! Go ahead, you'll definitely succeed. Everyone wants clean vegetables these days, especially after the controversy surrounding contaminated and clean vegetables in supermarkets and organic food stores!" But he pondered, "It's not that simple! I guarantee cleanliness from farm to table. However, firstly, producing clean vegetables is expensive, so the price is higher, making it difficult for consumers to accept. Secondly, the habit of eating fresh, vibrant green vegetables is deeply ingrained in people's minds, and changing that habit won't happen overnight. Thirdly, people usually pay for what they eat, spending at least 15,000-20,000 VND on vegetables daily (buying unregulated vegetables), but putting down 500,000-700,000 VND as a deposit is hard to accept." But he said he would try, build trust, and convince consumers with quality. Because daily food is not simply "a sprig of vegetable, a fish, a piece of meat," but rather the health and well-being of generations...
Therefore, consumers should change, becoming wise homemakers who know how to distinguish and choose what is best for family meals, in order to gradually reduce diseases that originate from the mouth…
Article by: Tue Anh
Illustrative image: Archival material
