THE MOVEMENT TOWARD ORGANIC HERB CULTIVATION IN CHINA
by Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon
BACKGROUND
Following its vast political revolution of 1949, China closed itself off from most contact with Western countries, primarily maintaining ties with the Soviet Union, as a benefactor and political ally, plus limited interactions with a few other communist countries. China and all its allies during this time period faced enormous struggles in food production and supply of other basic needs for their citizens. China first opened itself to interchange and trade with the West in the 1970s, when its self-destructive cultural revolution was coming to an end. This opening was manifest in the development of a biannual international trade fair in Guangzhou (Canton) beginning in 1976. Western countries could then begin importing from China certain foods, tea, and medicinal herbs, as well as a variety of manufactured goods.