Caveat emptor: Why my attempt to produce clean food ended in bankruptcy

Recently, hearing news of chemical-soaked bean sprouts being destroyed in Ha Giang, Bac Giang and elsewhere, I was reminded of my own experience more than 10 years ago when I tried producing clean bean sprouts and raising pigs without using chemicals.

My natural bean sprouts and organically raised pigs were rejected by the market!

Eventually my bean sprout and pig farming businesses collapsed.

Natural bean sprouts are simply beans soaked in clean water and left for about five to six days. They develop many roots, essential for absorbing nutrients.

I sank hundreds of millions into building a factory in HCMC to produce 100% natural bean sprouts without any chemicals. But in the market buyers complained: "Why do your sprouts have so many roots? They look unappetizing."

Despite my explanations, customers preferred the chemically-treated, rootless sprouts because they looked "cleaner" and more attractive.

Chemical bean sprouts are produced by applying a clear chemical that eliminates secondary roots, making them plump, white and visually appealing.

Chemically-treated sprouts do not wilt quickly and yield more per kilogram.

Bean sprouts harvested from planting mung beans in soil organically in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress/Dac Thanh

Critics will accuse farmers of greed, but the actual profit from making bean sprouts with chemicals is minimal.

The real issue is that naturally-produced sprouts quickly dry out, turn brown and lose their appeal.

Consumers, influenced by Korean and Japanese dramas showing neatly trimmed bean sprouts, demand similar aesthetics without understanding the production realities.

Similarly, raising pigs organically was equally challenging. From age 19 I meticulously cooked meals for my pigs - mixing fresh vegetables, corn, rice, fish heads, and rice bran.

Raising pigs this way meant eight months to reach market weight if no diseases occurred. But traders would rejected my pigs for having "too much fat."

Consumers wanted lean, aesthetically pleasing meat, leading farmers to use harmful lean-meat drugs.

Eventually, my clean farming efforts became economically unsustainable.

Today my parents still have over two hectares of land growing cashew and fruits organically. But harvesting them is not economically feasible because transportation and labor costs outweigh earnings from selling "less attractive" fruits.

The reality is harsh: buyers prioritize appearance over cleanliness.

I do not mean to justify unethical practices or harmful food production that threatens public health. In fact, such practices unfairly compete with ethical producers like me.

But the issue is broader: consumers also bear responsibility.

If consumers continue to demand aesthetically perfect but chemically enhanced produce, farmers will inevitably resort to unhealthy methods.

My family quit farming because we had alternatives. But those without other options will perforce use chemicals to survive.

From personal experience, I deeply understand the challenges of organic agriculture, particularly when consumer demands focus solely on appearance and price rather than quality and health.

Clean food cannot be produced cheaply on a large scale.

Addressing food safety requires collective responsibility. Consumers must actively support clean food production, and farmers must commit to ethical practices.

Only mutual support and shared accountability, rather than blame-shifting or reliance solely on enforcement, can effectively combat production of harmful foods.

*Mai Thanh Tam is a teacher who has a master's degree in computer science.