It seems with all the narratives going on about the origin of the coronavirus, excluding conspiracy theories about 5G towers causing it, there seems to be one culprit that everyone can agree started the pandemic that has changed the world. China’s wet markets. Now that we are desperately searching for solutions to this historical problem, some calls are being made worldwide to ban wet markets completely.
However; there needs to be a clear distinction between a wet market and a wild animal market. Wet markets are outdoor markets that sell produce and meats direct from the farmer to the customer. These markets are characterized by the stalls that line up and down a street or hawker center, with several merchants selling their produce and meats to clientele that they have known for years, much like a farmers market in Santa Monica.
A wild animal market is one where merchants sell animals that are well...wild, and we have no immunity from the diseases that they carry, unlike domestic livestock that we have had contact with for thousands of years. The meat they supply can come from several sources, including farms specializing in wild animal breeding, but it can also come from illegal sources, with endangered animals being sold as well. Furthermore a key difference between a regular wet market and a wild animal market is the clientele that they serve. While a wet market is patronized by people who are essentially doing their grocery shopping, China’s wild animal markets are a hotbed of corruption, with many endangered species being sold to be eaten by the upper echelon of Chinese society, thereby making their product not obtainable for the everyday citizen. The virus that has changed our lives started developing in one of these types of markets in Wuhan that sold exotic meats. The animals were placed in conditions where they frequently were in contact with each other, therefore the virus mutated; jumping from a bat, to a pangolin, and then to us humans.
A market in Hong Kong, where strict sanitation standards have been adopted. Wet markets like these are the norm in many urban areas.
Photo by Adli Wahid on Unsplash
It is easy to have the idea of banning all “wet markets'' because we quite frankly cannot afford to have another disease spring up, but I don't think the solution is making a false equivalency between an institution that serves and an institution that exploits. Essentially, we should not throw the baby out with the bath water, especially since that particular baby helps millions of people everyday, and could in fact be the solution to the damaging effects of our current food production systems. No, the baby doesn't need to be thrown out...it just needs a second rinse.
Wet markets, throughout the world, have formed through the timeless currency of human relationships. The relationship between farmer and seller, and between vendor and customer. They operate in ways that form interconnected communities of people who have built trust over years, sometimes decades. It is transparent shopping, as one can question a stall’s food source and get an immediate answer, as well as being able to see the quality of where their next cooked meal is coming from. We in America, and especially Los Angeles, have an appreciation for farm to table food, and while that may be a luxury to most over here, in places where wet markets are the norm, farm to table is the norm as well. Therefore an all out ban on wet markets would deprive a huge population from being able to buy fresh, affordable food. With a gap in food acquisition caused by the ban, corporations would see this opportunity to capitalize, and would take advantage of the situation by swooping in and building supermarkets that would simply ship in products from factory farms. This would not only deprive the local farmer who used to provide to vendors, but would also deprive the consumer from having knowledge of where their food is coming from. As it is, humanity is having to re-evaluate its relationship with food. Factory farming has already caused so much depletion of the environment, so if a person has the opportunity to get their food sustainably, shouldn't it be encouraged? In fact, the wet markets may be the most sustainable option we have in terms of food acquisition. Farmers markets are praised in America as being the direct to source option for fresh produce, and the small scale farming allows for replenishing of soil nutrients as well as ensuring that people are not ingesting dangerous chemicals that are used in large-scale farming. Therefore the generalization that all Chinese wet markets are places where animals that are considered not to be food, by western standards, are being sold is both damaging to the livelihoods of several people who do not engage in exotic meat selling, as well as to the movement towards a more sustainable food structure. The ban would also affect the daily lives of patrons by taking away their strolls through the market, the chance to speak to friends, and the opportunity of being able to pick and choose what they want to eat and who they want to buy from.
A market in Hong Kong. Vendors and customers form interconnected relationships through years of transactions, and customers can see the quality of the ingredients of their next cooked meal.
Photo by Adli Wahid on Unsplash
“There needs to be a clear distinction between a wet market and a wild animal market.”
The ban would also cause the economic danger of countless people losing their livelihoods. Family farms are constantly under stress to provide food from a lack of resources (for quite honestly a ridiculously slim profit margin) so losing their source of vendors to the corporate factory farm structure would ensure they would have no way to compete, let alone sell. The ban on these markets would also destroy a whole sector of the economy that would have nowhere to turn in terms of finding other work, the market vendors.
Imagine you are a vendor who has been working at a market stall. For years you have been building networks with both the farmer and customer, been having a steady source of income, and have had a stable location to sell the wares you acquire. Now imagine one day you are told you are not allowed to sell based on a false equivalency of your operation to one that is both entirely different and far more corrupt. In one instant all your years of hard work would go down the drain. Skills such as negotiating and business savvy that have been gained through working in the stalls could easily be applied to many other fields, for sure, however it's obvious that job competition is stiff worldwide, therefore vendors would not simply be able to find work immediately after their livelihood is taken from them. A proposed solution suggested is that the Chinese government can provide financial assistance to these vendors until they are able to find other work, but economics aside, there is also the emotional toll of taking away from someone the profession that has made up most of their life, and in some cases, a generational operation.
City landscapes should also be taken into consideration, and how they would be negatively affected by the ban. These markets are a quintessential part of a city’s landscape and overall imagery, as the fruits, vegetables, and meats being sold are harvested locally, so you can visually see what ingredients make up the diet and palette of the residents. Each one also provides an atmosphere that is formed by the people who shop and sell. Adjectives most commonly used to describe them can range from “vibrant” to “romantic,” but overall I believe most people would simply say, “charming,”(I have to say there hasn't been a wet market I’ve been to that I haven't enjoyed.) Some wet markets even offer the service of taking the produce you buy and cooking it, so locals have a constant source of comfort foods they have grown up with, while visitors get the chance to enjoy a home cooked meal, hear the city’s native languages being spoken, all while being in a setting that represents the true self of the people who come in and out doing their errands.
Why, I then ask, would you want to replace the imagery of the stall lined centers and streets with large, concrete buildings filled with fluorescent lighting and muzak? (AKA the corporate supermarket.) Supermarkets coming into these regions would take away local signage, local character, and local cuisine. It would be the same heartbreak you would feel if your favorite local joint became a TGI Fridays, or if your “Mom & Pop” drugstore was taken down by Walgreens. That is what this ban would stoke the flames of, the corporatization assimilation process. One by one these blobs will pop up in every city the ban is enforced, and with their appearance, will rob it of its cultural identity.
Wet markets provide locals with comfort foods they have grown up with, and visitors with the opportunity to experience authentic cuisine.
Photo by Vernon Raineil Cenzon on Unsplash
I am not saying wet markets are perfect, but the problems that can arise from them, such as the one in Wuhan, can be mitigated by the solution of regulation being implemented to ensure the safety of the world from experiencing another pandemic like this. China, no stranger to regulation, could easily ban the sale of wild animals... permanently, and instead only allow the sale of produce and domestic livestock. Taking regulation further, sanitation practices must be implemented immediately and enforced strictly, very much in ways they are done in Hong Kong or Singapore wet markets. In terms of our own consumer habits, we should all take a good long hard look at how we acquire our food, and maybe realize that these markets have provided more sustainable and affordable options for people to get farm to table food than the larger systems currently in place worldwide.
The individual cultural imagery that each market provides may be a minor point to some, but we should look at the benefits it provides citizens. Instead of fluorescent glare it provides open air. Instead of long lines it provides community. Instead of packaged food, whose source is not known, it provides products that have been handed down a supply chain of people who have fostered trust, something that is visible to anyone who goes to one. A post-Covid world is going to look a lot different, but I believe that no matter what, progress should maintain an integrity to each unique culture, as opposed to creating a facade of a sterile state of homogeneity. So don't ban the markets, they may save us in the end.