[governance] Clinton Admits: "Free" Trade is Harmful to 3rd World

[Roland Perry]

In message <4BBA1BC8.60904 at wzb.eu>, at 18:20:08 on Mon, 5 Apr 2010, 
Jeanette Hofmann <jeanette at wzb.eu> writes

>> So here's a practical question: Looking in my own refrigerator just 
>>now,  I have noticed most of a pack of chillies (cost £0.50) from 
>>Morocco,  expiry date 22Mar and they have indeed grown some 
>>interesting looking  mold. But I can't eat chillies quickly enough. So 
>>what should I do - not  buy them again (smaller packets not available 
>>in that shop),
>
>You should freeze them. That way they last for many months without 
>losing their flavour. You defrost them within less than a minute by 
>putting them under hot water.

I never thought about that. Good suggestion.

>and who
>> should public policy seek to protect - Moroccan farmers, or Moroccan 
>>consumers - in the event that the UK market for chillies reduces, 
>>taking  with it the wholesale price.
>
>Aren't Moroccan farmers also consumers?

I suspect the average Moroccan farmer (as consumer) eats fewer chillies 
than the average Moroccan farmer (as supplier) grows. By many orders of 
magnitude.

>I wonder if this is really an either/ or situation. Besides, there 
>might be good reasons to produce and buy food locally even if this 
>implies higher prices. Avoiding long distant transport, might be one,

I mentioned that already. But most of these "exotic" crops are not grown 
locally to where I live. I don't think I even saw a fresh chilli until I 
was in my twenties, and people had started to import them.

>desirable qualities such as taste or organic production methods might 
>be reasons and poverty is certainly also one.

The main thing driving international trade in farm produce would appear 
to be availability throughout the year. I'm old enough to remember when 
strawberries were a seasonal crop for about three weeks in June. Now you 
can buy them all year round.
-- 
Roland Perry
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