This week, our Eat Right series has been exploring all the ethical issues of dining in Shanghai. So far, we've taken a look at organic food in China, vegetarian options in Shanghai and chatted to our organic expert Jane Tsao from BIOFarm. Today we continue the series by asking: where does your food come from? Are you eating local, organic or both? Which is better? Monica Liau helps to answer these questions by taking a look at local food sourcing in Shanghai.

There are always two sides to every story. When buying organic, there are still other environmental issues to consider. A crop may be produced without pesticides, but if it has to be air freighted, aviation emissions offset other environmental benefits. “Local food” advocates believe that food eaten close to its source tastes better because it spends a shorter amount of time in refrigeration, jacked up with preservatives. It’s also more environmentally friendly.

Eating local is easy in China. Just go to a wet market where local produce is the norm, not a novelty. Unlike in the West, however, most Chinese farmers are not organic hobbyists. Chinese media recently caught a Jiangxi farmer soaking his celery in sewer water to increase its weight. As with so many things in China, compromise is involved. Grace Chang, from My Local Store, an online food delivery site which sources most vegetables locally, says that while her food may not be completely organic, the sourcing is transparent and quality standards more stringent than at traditional farms.

“At our store, you know exactly where your food is coming from,” says Chang. “In traditional wet markets you just have no idea.” BioFarm, located near Pudong Airport, operates in a similar fashion. Its owners regularly invite customers out to the farm to bring them closer to the source of their food and to raise awareness and garner appreciation for the efforts that go into their ecological production.

But Angela Mou, FIELDS’ marketing and sales manager, says, for a city as large as Shanghai, it is impossible to keep people in enough baby greens and rice from local suppliers, much less more exotic fare like mushrooms and avocados.

“You can’t grow white asparagus in Shanghai and you can’t find chanterelles,” says Mou. “We do what we can, but we’ll never eat 100-percent local.”

So in most cases, there are still choices to be made about buying local, organic, both ... or neither. Chang argues it’s all about balance. “I don’t buy organic every time I shop,” she says. “I try my best but people really don’t need to be that scared about everything in China. They just need to eat smart.”

Do you prefer to eat local fruits and vegetables? Do you trust the goods sold at wet markets and local stores?

Words by Monica Liau

Don't forget to take a look at our other yummy Eat Right articles: the top five ethical dishes in town and the exclusive recipe from Anna Maya.