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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost AT gilanet.com>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] The cost of steel
  • Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 12:51:49 -0600


Agree 142% on most, Pat. China? I wonder, if we really compared records on
human rights, how could we buy anything made in the USA? So I don't know
where we go from there. To me the most urgent need is to promote local food,
grow local, buy local. Do an end run around the corporate middlemen that
squeeze producers and consumers. Do it yourself, network with the local
community, get as much local independence from outside market forces as we
can -- and survive. Substitute local or regionally grown fruits and nuts for
imports, and so forth. Can't get avocados without shipping from California?
Oranges from Florida? So what. Many fruits and berries grow fine in cooler
areas, and they make great substitutes for citrus in many uses. Certain
greens have more vitamin C than citrus. Potatoes don't grow in our area?
Fine, switch to Jerusalem Artichokes that grow lots of places, great with
inulin for diabetics, and nuttier flavor than potatoes. For most all
agricultural products that we can't produce locally, we can produce good
local substitutes. This may be the Next Big Thing in market farming and home
grown. I'd really like to explore this.

paul tradingpost AT gilanet.com

That is well said, replied Candide, but we must cultivate our garden.
--Voltaire [Francois-Marie Arouet] Candide
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 5/25/2004 at 1:05 PM Pat Meadows wrote:

>On Tue, 25 May 2004 08:33:20 -0700, you wrote:
>
>>I was listening to NPR a few weeks ago on my way to an evening farmer's
>>market, and they were talking with someone from a US steel company -
>>don't remember which - and the topic was the rising price of steel.
>>
>>Basically it boiled down to this: China used to send all of their steel
>>to the US and European markets. US and European steel makers went out
>>of business because they couldn't compete with cheap Chinese steel.
>>
>>Now China has cut their exports dramatically, because they need the
>>steel in-country.
>>
>>Likewise, they are importing more oil than ever, and that is pinching
>>the world oil supply.
>>
>>Don't buy anything made in China. :/
>>
>
>In this particular case, it's not their fault, especially -
>China is just looking out for (what it perceives as) its own
>interests.
>
>If we allow short-sighted policies (as we did when we
>allowed the steel makers to go out of business rather than
>helping them), then we should hardly be surprised when the
>results of those policies come back to bite us.
>
>This is just one result of under-regulated capitalism and a
>misguided faith in the holy sanctity of 'market forces'.
>Live by the sword, die by the sword....
>
>We sowed the seeds when we allowed most of our manufacturing
>jobs to leave the USA. We're beginning to reap the harvest
>of those seeds.
>
>Now we're also allowing technical and office jobs to be
>'off-shored' - this also have disastrous results in the
>not-very-distant future.
>
>IMHO, a more valid reason not to buy anything made in China
>would be its very poor record on human rights.
>
>Pat
>--
>"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of
>supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to
>live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry
>
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