In this article, Grace Liang examines the relation between Wet Markets and the spread of Covid-19, and how they are not entirely the ones to blame.
When a virus like no one has seen in a century hits the world, an inconspicuous market in rural China began receiving a lot of attention. The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, previously unheard of by westerners, was traced back to as the source of CoVID-19. With this news came misinformation about wet markets, as which the Huanan Seafood Wholesale market is classified. Examining the definitions will prove that the lifestyle of many in rural Asia isn’t to blame for an entire pandemic.
A “wet market” is a very broad term describing an outdoor market selling perishable goods. Stalls displaying freshly slaughtered meat lined up next to trucks full of vegetables from local farms make for a wet market. There are specific types of wet markets that may sell only livestock or produce. Wet markets are the equivalent of farmer’s markets in America-familiar to the everyday people and a source of fresh produce.
Wet markets are very accessible to shoppers and sellers in rural places. Some farmers can’t ship their food to supermarkets or stores, and selling at their own farms may be too far for people in nearby towns. The markets, which take less time to set up, also limit industrial waste. Shoppers in rural places would prefer the fresh food over packaged, frozen goods shipped from miles away. They might not meet the sanitation standards set for stores and supermarkets in the west, they are still clean, and a wet market that sold farmed goods is unlikely to spread disease. Wet markets have supported people living in rural China for ages; it is illogical to think that all wet markets are responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.
A wildlife market, however, is a problem. The Huanan-Wildlife Market had a section that sold wildlife-specifically, snakes, beavers, badgers, civet hats, foxes, peacocks, and porcupines, and more. The wildlife section of the market is the likely cause of the current pandemic. Eating wildlife is not a well-practiced tradition in Chinese culture; rather, it was likely a practice born to adapt to poverty and scarcity in rural areas. There are also myths surrounding the health benefits of eating wildlife. However, these myths are untrue, and hunting and selling wildlife is unsanitary and hurts species and ecosystems. When the market closed in January, the Chinese government had placed a ban on the sale of wildlife, which is on the rise again. The ban on fresh goods to prevent disease had happened before; Hong Kong and a few Chinese provinces had banned the sale of live poultry during the Avian flu outbreak.
The calls to ban wet markets in China are misguided, with underlying Sinophobia and white savior complexes. People who argue that an integral part of Chinese citizens’ lives do not understand what a wet market is, nor are they sympathetic enough to recognize the necessity of accessible places to shop for food in rural areas. Furthermore, they ignore commercial hunting of wildlife, which harms animals and people alike, and is a problem that has been dealt with before by legislation and activists. The fight against CoVID-19 is a global effort, and part of the fight is educating people about the disease’s origins; to properly educate people, one must overlook biases and misinformation to find out where the real harms lie and mitigate the harms of CoVID-19 and future disease in a way that is best for everyone.
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