Terracotta—More Than Just Cookware

Terracotta warrior stands guard over the museum.

More than 2,000 years ago, the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, decided to build a necropolis filled with life-sized minions so he would have subjects to protect him and rule over after he died (a necessity for any self-respecting despot). As the most powerful man in China, he had the clout and resources to create this city of the dead, which included more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots, 670 horses and a throng of obsequious civilian officials, acrobats, strong men and musicians.

Today, the clay army in that tomb is known as the Terracotta Warriors and fortunately, an exhibit of them is currently on loan to a museum in New York City. Steve and I decided to visit that venue, the Discovery Times Square Museum, to see this unparalleled expression of funerary art.

Mr. Ed's ancestor warily watches passing tourists.

Emperor Qin ascended to the throne when he was 13 years old and, no doubt tapping on his adolescent angst, proved to be a powerful leader. Within the space of his lifetime, he unified seven warring states into the seed of what is now known as China. 

As the story goes, the emperor was afraid of death and constantly trying magic elixirs to achieve immortality. Eventually, around 210 BCE, he died anyway at the age of 49, most likely from the mercury contained in some of those potions. But before he passed on to legend, he ordered some 16,000 workers (700,000 according to ancient historian Sim Qian, perhaps exaggerating a tad) to create his necropolis where he was buried.

Drums meant charge, and bells, like

the one above, sounded retreat.

The emperor died while touring his vast kingdom. His Prime Minister, Li Si, who was traveling with him, decided it would be dangerous to let people know he was dead because it might trigger a general uprising in the Empire. (Apparently, not everyone was a fan of his unification project.)

Unfortunately, the emperor and his entourage were two months away from the capital when he expired, so only some subtle ingenuity would cover up that fact in the sweltering heat of summer. Most of the imperial entourage was not told of the emperor's death. Only a younger son, a trusted eunuch, Li Si and five or six other carefully chosen confidants knew.

I swear this warrior's eyes kept following me.

Li Si ordered that two carts loaded with rotten fish be carried immediately before and after the wagon of the emperor. What better way to prevent people from noticing the foul smell emanating from the wagon of the emperor, where his corpse was happily decomposing in the summer heat? A shade was drawn on the emperor’s wagon, so no one could see his face. They also changed his clothes daily (must have been a fun job), brought food and conferred with him on important issues. (This may be an early competitor for the Vacations from Hell competitions held annually by certain travel websites.)

Smaller warriors from a later emperor.

Interestingly, a year before the emperor died, a large meteor is said to have landed in a province near the lower reaches of the Yellow River. On it, an unknown and perhaps hostile soothsayer inscribed the words "The First Emperor will die and his land will be divided.” Unfortunately, this got back to the emperor who was none too happy about it. He sent an imperial secretary to investigate this prophecy and when no one in the area would own up to having etched it on the stone, everyone living nearby was put to death (thus proving that old realtor adage of “location, location, location”). The stone was then burned and pulverized. Sadly for the emperor, this precaution was ineffective. He died the next year and through some treachery, his younger  son became the next emperor. The son proved to be a rather incompetent ruler and the prophecy came true.

Barbie-sized warriors from a later dynasty.

According to historian Sim Qian, who lived from 145–90 BCE, the second emperor of China decided that after his father died, it was time to do some housecleaning:

“The Second Emperor said: ‘It is inappropriate for the wives of the late emperor who have no sons to be free,’ ordered that they be put to death, and many died. After the burial, it was suggested that it would be a serious breach if the craftsmen who constructed the tomb and knew of its secrets were to divulge those secrets. Therefore after the funeral ceremonies had completed, the inner passages and doorways were blocked, and the exit sealed, immediately trapping the workers and craftsmen inside. None could escape.” Basically, it may have been good to BE the emperor, but not necessarily to marry or work for him.

Lanterns light the way at the Chelsea Market.

The tomb was planted over with vegetation, so it would resemble a nonassuming hill. As a result, it lay undiscovered for more than two millennia until a local farmer, digging a well, found it in 1974.

After wending through this fascinating exhibit, Steve and I capped off the day by having a late lunch at The Green Table at the Chelsea Market—great organic, locally grown food—and then we sat in a park and watched a man create really big bubbles. 

Nothing says New York like bubbles in the park.

Such was our foray into the city. First we spent the better part of the morning peering more than two thousand years into the past. Then we whiled away an hour watching mammoth bubbles float up into the air, pop and vanish. All in all, a day layered with the essence and absurdity of transience.

Importing Danger from China

Four years ago, I learned a cruel lesson in how global problems affect us all. Due to lax safety measures in Chinese food production, melamine ended up in several brands of pet food in the United States. My cat ate the melamine, developed severe and painful kidney failure and had to be put to sleep. From that point on, I realized whenever I watched world news, I had better start paying attention.

My cat, Nala, died from melamine in her petfood.

So when I read that China, a leading exporter of fruits, vegetables, fish and soon chicken (if the US gives them permission) were suppying an ever-increasing portion of the American diet, I became concerned. According to Food & Water Watch, in 2009, 70 percent of the apple juice, 43 percent of the processed mushrooms, 22 percent of the frozen spinach and 78 percent of the tilapia Americans ate came from China.

China is also manufacturing the ingredients for an increasing number of medicines we take.

So what? Well, think about this. Along with those Chinese-derived foods and medicines come the notorious safety problems associated with them.

A report titled Pathway to Global Product Safety and Quality, released by the FDA this week, acknowledges that “the safety of America’s food and medical products remains under serious threat,” according to The New York Times.

Both The New York Times and Food & Water Watch articles listed recent safety breaches that posed scary and/or deadly threats:

• Melamine-tainted ingredients in products from well-known brands like Mars, Heinz and Cadbury
• Melamine-tainted milk products that sickened hundreds of thousands of infants in China
• Melamine contamination believed responsible for thousands of pet deaths in the United States
• Contaminated heparin in 11 countries with more than 80 deaths in the US
• Counterfeit glucose monitoring strips yielding inaccurate test readings

“It’s all very nice for people to feel that we have one of the safest food supplies in the world, but we really need to recognize that our food is increasingly coming from this complex supply chain and coming from parts of the world where there are not as robust standards and practice.”—Dr. Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the FDA

While melamine contamination grabs the most headlines, systemic food safety failures in China are the root cause of unsafe foods making it onto our dinner plates. The Wild West business environment in that country encourages food manufacturers to cut costs and corners. Even Chinese officials have publicly acknowledged their inability to regulate the country’s sprawling food production sector.

And now the FDA is doing the same. How could this happen? Sheer numbers.

A decade ago, the FDA was charged with inspecting 6 million separate shipments coming through 300 different ports. This year, that number is expected to grow to 24 million shipments, the report noted. Nearly two-thirds of all fruits and vegetables and three-quarters of all seafood eaten in the US are now imported.

The FDA inspects less than 2 percent of imported food and barely visits Chinese food manufacturers, according to Food & Water Watch. The FDA conducted only 13 food inspections in China between June 2009 and June 2010.

The situation with drugs and medical devices presents an even greater concern. More than 80 percent of the active ingredients for drugs sold in the US are manufactured overseas—mostly in manufacturing plants in China and India that are rarely inspected by the FDA. Half of all medical devices sold in the US are made abroad. Many kinds of antibiotics, steroids, cancer medicines and even aspirin are no longer produced in the US, or in many cases anywhere in the Western world.

Unfortunately, despite all the publicity, there is no indication that China’s food safety situation is improving. Melamine continues to appear in food inside China despite a flurry of new food safety legislation, says Food & Water Watch. Nonetheless, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is considering allowing US food retailers to import chicken from China.

Government investigators estimated that, based on its inspection rate in 2008, that the FDA would need:

• 13 years to check every foreign drug manufacturing plant
• 27 years to check every foreign medical device plant
• 1,900 years to check every foreign food plant

With imports growing faster than the agency’s inspection force, those numbers can only get more daunting.

"Unsurprisingly, China's slipshod industrial model churns out dangerous food and consumer products. One provincial government survey found that less than half of food and consumer goods met basic hygiene standards, meaning more than half could be dangerous to consumers."—A Decade of Dangerous Food Imports from China, Food & Water Watch

In January, President Obama signed into law a bill that granted the FDA new powers to police foreign foods. The law directed the agency to inspect at least 600 foreign food facilities within the next year and then increase that number every year afterward. Unfortunately, the House Republicans undercut the effort by slashing that agency’s budget when it needed to be increased.

F&WW Report: Think this doesn't affect you?

Facing that budgetary reality, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the FDA, has proposed that all countries band together to monitor imports, thus sharing their inspectors worldwide—efficiently using their funds and personnel—and cutting out redundancy in inspections. This will work in some countries, but in others—China is one of them—local authorities are not always willing to cooperate and allow inspections. Also, some countries have locally corrupt inspectors, rendering their seal of approval questionable.

According to The New York Times, “Many in the food industry, angered by contamination scares that have cost hundreds of millions, have volunteered to pay fees directly to the FDA to underwrite more inspections. Consumer groups have cheered this suggestion. But Republicans in the Senate have so far refused to consider such fees, calling them an unacceptable tax. Polls have shown overwhelming and bipartisan support among voters for strengthened federal oversight of the food system.” That's right, Washington, we don't want to eat poisoned food. Nor do we want to feed it to our pets.

So what can we do to ensure our safety in the absence of our government doing so?

• Buy foods from local farms, or at least from the US
• Reduce or eliminate processed foods from your diet (most of them contain genetically engineered ingredients anyway)
• Buy organic—as mentioned in previous articles, the cheapest way to do this is to join a community supported garden in your area. Click here to find one near you.