Entry #9: Reading "Balancing Income, Food Insecurity, and Sustainability in Shangri-La: The Dilemma of Monocropping Wine Grapes in Rural China"

 This article focuses on vulnerability research conducted in a small rural village called Geze, located in the Yunnan Prefecture of Southern China. Specifically, the problem is that the government is urging the village locals to replace their fields with grapes in order to support a commercial wine brand. Before the pressure from the government, the fields were used primarily for subsistence farming and growing animal feed, and the economy in Geze was supported primarily by exporting forest products. Now that most of the fields are used for growing grapes, families in Geze have changed their diets to cope with the lack of traditional crops, such as wheat and barley, being their main source of grains. The main source is now rice, as most of the wheat and barley grown now is used for animal feed (Galipeau, 2015).

Growing grapes as a cash crop has increased the villagers' income, but now that they grow less of their own food, they must spend more money to feed themselves. There is also financial insecurity since they are reliant on the government to purchase their grapes (Galipeau, 2015).

The lack of diversity in the fields of Geze, and their financial independence being sacrificed for hopes of better money and thus a better life, makes me wonder how or if the government will accommodate Geze in the event that grapes lose their value in the agricultural industry due to some economic shift. Will Geze be able to get themselves back on their feet if the government leaves them to help themselves?

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