VOA文化艺术2022--South Korea Plans to Fight Kimchi ‘Crisis’

Kimchi is a traditional food served in South Korea.

The main part of the food is a preserved vegetable, often cabbage.

But this year, Kimchi is more costly¹ than usual because the cabbage crop has been small. Some farmers say climate change has made it harder to grow cabbage. Temperatures have been high and there has been more rain than usual.

Businesses that sell kimchi are having trouble making money because there is less cabbage than most years. Their costs for cabbage doubled over just three months this year. Cabbage prices reached their highest level in 24 years last summer.

In addition, kimchi is getting more popular around the world so there is more competition. For example, food-makers³ in China are now growing cabbage and making kimchi and selling it to people in South Korea.

So the South Korean government is making plans to build two large holding places for cabbage. The places will be the size of three soccer fields and be able to hold 10,000 tons of cabbage.

The holding places will cost about $40 million and are expected to be ready in 2025. They will be built in the rural⁴ areas of Goesan and Haenam.

The large holding buildings will help small kimchi makers who are not able to buy as much cabbage as they want. Ahn Ik-jin runs the kimchi maker² Cheongone Organic⁵. In most years, he said, the company would buy cabbage in June and hold onto it to use later in the year. But this year, they were not able to buy enough cabbage.

As a result, the company is only producing 10 tons of kimchi each day. In past years, it would make 15 tons daily. Cheongone Organic has also raised prices by over 60 percent. The kimchi now costs about $3.50 per kilogram.

The higher prices are a problem for the South Korean kimchi companies because the kimchi coming from China is much less costly. The Chinese-made kimchi now has 40 percent of the market. It is about one third the cost of local kimchi.

A study by Korea Rating⁶ & Data showed that about 1,000 South Korean kimchi makers went out of business or switched to making other products last year.

The government hopes the new cabbage holding places can help businesses that make kimchi. There is a growing interest in South Korean culture around the world. One of the most popular music groups in the world is BTS and a television program – Squid Game – is successful on the Netflix streaming video service. There is also interest in eating kimchi. As a result, the amount of money from kimchi exports rose over 10 percent in 2021, to a total of $160 million.

Kimchi is more popular than ever, but there are some concerns at home. Many South Korean people like to make their own kimchi and share it with friends and families during a time known as kimjang. But, many people are no longer making it at home because the ingredients⁸ are so costly.

Kim Sook-kyung is 72 years old. She talked with a reporter while shopping at a food store. She said she plans to make her own kimchi some of the time and other times buy it at the store.

Sales numbers at the food store company Hanaro Mart suggest she is thinking in the same way as many other Koreans. Since August, the food store has sold 20 percent more containers of kimchi compared to the same period last year.

Words in This Story

switch –v. to make a change from one thing to another

streaming –adj. playing continuously as data sent over the internet to computers

ingredient⁷ –n. one of the things that is used to make food

1 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

2 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

3 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

5 organic   

adj.有机的，有机物的；有组织的

参考例句：

• Organic farming is expanding everywhere.有机农业正在各地迅速发展起来。
• The organic fertilizer shall keep the soil in good heart.这有机肥一定会使土壤保持肥沃。

6 rating   

n.级别，等级，额定值，责骂，收视率

参考例句：

• It is a ship with a rating of 500,000 tons.这是一艘五十万吨级的船。
• The opinion polls gave the president a high rating.民意测验显示人民对总统的支持率很高。

7 ingredient   

n.（烹饪）等的材料，原料，成分，因素

参考例句：

• The basic ingredient of this meal is rice.这一餐的主要原料是大米。
• Trust is a key ingredient.信任是关键要素。

8 ingredients   

n.（混合物的）组成部分( ingredient的名词复数 )；（烹调的）原料；（构成）要素；因素

参考例句：

• All ingredients are readily available from your local store. 所有的原料都可以方便地从你当地的商店买到。
• We never use second quality ingredients to build building. 我们决不使用次等材料用于建筑。 来自《简明英汉词典》