A Vision for Hualien and Taitung: Rebuilding a Zero-Pollution, Healthy Countryside

If one day "pesticides and chemical fertilizers" also become a "common sight" in the farming villages of the Hualien-Taitung Rift Valley, what do we do?

Last weekend I stole some time from my busy schedule and went cycling with a group of young friends in Hualien and Taitung. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, with mist and rain falling nonstop, so what was originally a three-day cycling trip was cut down to one day. We only rode a short stretch, from Ruisui along Highway 193 to a hot spring hotel near Yuli. A few years ago my wife and I had driven leisurely through this same stretch; the quiet elegance of Hualien-Taitung Highway 193 and its scene of lush green fields were deeply etched in our memory, and we vowed we would surely revisit 193. After years of longing, the beautiful dream finally came true! Everyone mounted their Giant bicycles and set off excitedly. The scenery along the way was as lovely as ever, and the verdant rice paddies on both sides let us feel the vitality of Taiwan's countryside.

"That's right, that's the smell of pesticide. Hualien and Taitung, Taiwan's last pure land, have fallen."

But in the instant of speeding along Highway 193, an unusual bitter smell seeped into my nose, and that pungent odor accompanied us the whole way. I tried to identify where the smell was coming from, pondering it, and suddenly my mood sank into a low ebb, my heart seized with alarm: could that wave after wave of pungent odor coming at us be the smell of pesticide?! For a moment I lost my focus, felt confused, and still hoped it was a misunderstanding.

I tried to convince myself, to believe that pesticides would not appear in this pure land of Hualien and Taitung. I kept consoling myself, hoping to confirm what the strange smell in the air really was. I slowly took a few more breaths of the air along the way, and after a period of inner struggle, of coming back to my senses and calming down, I told myself: "That's right, that's the smell of pesticide. Hualien and Taitung, Taiwan's last pure land, have fallen."

"If even the countryside of Hualien and Taitung has already fallen, what are we to do?"

The "pollution from pesticides and chemical fertilizers" has not only polluted the air of the Hualien-Taitung Rift Valley, it has also harmed the water resources. It slowly seeps into the soil, endangering the health of the entire ecosystem. These harmful, unhealthy agricultural inputs erode nature, worsening the farming environment of Hualien and Taitung and harming the health of us "farmers." Naturally, the crops that "everyone" eats are also harmful and unhealthy.

In recent years, many people have wanted to get away from the pollution and clutter of the city, to draw close to nature, and to move to Hualien and Taitung. These city dwellers want to escape the traffic jams possessed by anxiety day and night, the concrete mountains made up with dust, the air thoroughly occupied by pollutants. But if even the nature of Hualien and Taitung has already fallen, where can Taiwanese people go? What are we to do?

We need to thoroughly purify the countryside. It starts with finding and eliminating the sources of pollution, so that "pesticides and chemical fertilizers" vanish without a trace. We must clean up the pollution that already exists in the water, the air, and the land. We need to launch a "zero pollution, healthy countryside" rebuilding plan. We must truly carry out the promises of a "purified countryside" and a "green countryside."

Perhaps we can start with Hualien and Taitung, making them the capital of Asia's "healthy countryside" and a model countryside for other neighboring countries. (The original text was also published on the author's blog: http://blog.udn.com/cyhuang3/5706377#ixzz1aCgytVz4)