Dirty greens: Why some southern farmers refuse to eat the water spinach they grow
A man takes a big bowl of waste vehicle oil from a bucket and splash the thick black liquid directly onto his water spinach field. Some of his farming neighbors in Thuong Xuan Ward in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City are showed doing the same in a video recently published by news website Zing.
The video has stirred widespread public concerns as water spinach, known in Vietnamese as rau muong, which is arguably one of the most popular vegetables in the country. In an attempt to calm the public, Ho Chi Minh City food safety officials held a conference Tuesday guaranteeing that they have taken 20 samples of water spinach in the area for testing and they are all safe.
The farmers claim that the waste oil works well as a cheap pesticide and it can help the plant grow fast, strong and green.
