In China, Garlic is Gold
Dec 16th, 2009 | By admin | Category: Alternative Medicine, Chinese Medicine, Featured, GarlicThe price of garlic in china shot up 40-fold over the past year, and you might be surprised why.
“Prices started to surge around September,” said Zhao Fangling, the general manager of a garlic processing company in Shandong’s Jinxiang county.
“Garlic was so cheap in the previous two years that some of it was just dumped as trash. Farmers lost money and stopped planting it so supplies dropped by 30-40 per cent,” he said.
The bulbs have been given a boost partly due to renewed fears over swine flu, as traditional Chinese doctors have recommended garlic as protection from A(H1N1) influenza.
While it is commonly used in Chinese medicine, flu experts caution that there is no scientific proof that garlic is an effective way to ward off H1N1 flu. That said, pass the pesto — it sure couldn’t hurt.
Source: The West Australian
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