North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Claude Sweet <hortventures@cox.net>]

Some people have deeply held beliefs that are akin to religious 
convictions.  I will not change their  convictions.  I do believe there 
are many other factors that should be considered.  The founding of our 
nation required 95% of the people to live on a farm and to barter for 
items. We have now transformed to nation where 5% live on a farm, 
allowing the other 95% to pursue other goals and objectives. 

I am ignoring the statements that demonize the food producers because 
they are large. We can not have a productive discussion when using a 
board paint bush to describe people who have a tradition of farming that 
requires a subchapter S corporation to protect their assets and attempt 
to preserve the tradition.  Even children who grow up on a farm may not 
wish to personally be involved in the farming activity as a career. When 
senior family members die there can be inheritance problems, especially 
if some family members want a cash settlement.

There have been lots of suggestions on this list that producing and 
processing your own food is cheaper than what can be purchased in the 
store. These statements are not true if the true cost of a person's time 
and cost of facilities/tools etc. are considered. There also is another 
cost involved - alternative uses of capital that are risk free.

I caution people to be realistic about these factors, especially if 
considering a small business opportunity.  Over the years I have advised 
many people who contemplate such ventures and provide all of the 
management and most of the physical effort - "What will you do when you 
require time off for personal business, illness, disabilities, or 
death?".  Will the business be able to continue without your direct 
input and oversight.

If you like to grow and process food for personal use, such arguments 
may out weight other considerations if your financial circumstances 
allow.  I have grown such items that I could have purchased cheaper from 
commercial sources.  Some have been direct from the grower and were just 
as fresh and tasty as if I produced them myself. They were not as 
convenient to acquire and required additional time and effort to procure 
when compare to a home garden.

Growing any plant and cooking can provide personal satisfaction and 
pleasure, even a relief from daily stress and tension.  These are 
personal choices in a life style I highly recommend. However, our 
society could not exist if each individual had to produce the necessary 
food and fiber required to feed, house, and cloth our families without a 
drastic impact on everyday activities many consider as part our basic 
existence.

Imagine if we had to depend on real horsepower for transportation.  We 
would also have a real pollution problem of a different nature. There 
also would be limitations in the distance we could travel in a day.  The 
specialization of the individual farmer to produce fewer items and 
attempt to lower their costs through economies of scale are part of the 
collective problem of overproduction that causes market prices to fall 
as demand is saturated.  Individual decisions related to production and 
marketing that designed to benefit the individual also can collectively 
produce an adverse effect if a large group of other producers make the 
same choice.

To counteract the specialized farming operations, nitch production of 
organic and exotic crops began to emerge.  As these efforts become more 
productive (commercialized) the growers discover that their prices fall 
and they no longer command a premium.  Some can compete in the market 
place and others fail. Such is the natural course of farming cycles 
unless there are federal controls on production and price supports.  
These actions do guarantee that there is a supply of food which is 
relative stable, except for minor blips cause by adverse weather 
conditions. Consumers also benefit by reducing the widely inflated 
prices which occur when supplies are restricted by artificial withdraw 
of production caused by growers not planting as they permanently cease 
production (go out of business).

As horticultural writers we must provide information that is objective 
and balanced to assist the reader.  One sided personal views should be 
clearly presented as editorials, a luxury most writers only achieve if 
they become a senior editor or publisher.

Claude Sweet
San Diego, CA