Independence? Freedom?

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Today I was standing in front of the fruits and vegetable section at the grocery store, taking notes in my phone, when a shopkeeper approached me asking me if she can help me. I said No, thanks, only the government can help. I don't think I need to describe the look on her face when she heard my answer. There was no way she could understand what I was talking about and just as her, there are many people who don't even notice what's going on.


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When Reality Hits You

I was standing in front of the vegetables,reading labels. What interested me most was the place of origin of the products. After reading most of the labels, I believe I was more shocked than the shopkeeper. When I say vegetables, don't think of all the vegetable types of the world, from the most exotic to the most common. I'm talking about the basic ones, like potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, lettuce, cucumbers, pepper. What was shocking about them? 90% of these were imported from another country, mostly European countries but not only, as there were products from China as USA as well.

I understand that the climate of the country is not favorable to growing exotic fruits, that's why most of the exotic fruits are brought from Spain, Portugal, Peru, Ecuador, Egypt, Kenya and Mexico, just to list a few. However, this climate and soil is very good for growing a lot of essential vegetables that are serving as basic food for out nation, like potatoes, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, onions, garlic, pepper, corn, grain and so many more.


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Tell me honestly, why do we need garlic from China, carrots from Poland, pepper from Spain and beans from the Netherlands?


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Variety is key when you're in this business and obviously every grocery shop wants the best quality at the best price in order to make a profit, you'd think. Customers should be free to buy whatever they want, based on their preference and budget. In reality however this is not quite like that.

I wouldn't mind seeing imported vegetables on the shelves next to the indigenous ones, as it would mean you have a choice, you can buy whichever you want. It's just that the choice is already made for you, there was one type of onion, one type of carrot, garlic was the only product where you had a choice but both were from far countries unfortunately. Where are the home grown products? Why aren't Romanian vegetables on the shelves? If I were to buy indigenous vegetables for a soup, I would come home empty handed.

Basically whoever is running the shop made a choice for you. You either buy what you can get or you go to another shop where you could face the same situation.

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We Should Have Learned Something By Now

I remember in the first year at the university we had a history course called the economical history of Romania. Most of my classmates were extremely pissed, they said why the hell are we forced to learn something we won't use ever. It wasn't easy to learn all that as we had to go back in time quite a bit, learn words we don't use anymore, dates and all that, but that is part of the country's history. What they failed to realize is the importance of knowing the past so we don't make the same mistakes as the ancestors did.

By 1541, the entire Balkan peninsula and northern Hungary became Ottoman provinces. Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania came under Ottoman suzerainty. source

The main reason (now) Romanian territories came under Ottoman occupation was the great agricultural potential. Most of what were cultivated went to the Ottoman empire. You can imagine the potential the country had back then so the Ottomans thought worth fighting for.

New Reality

All that is gone now and there's a new reality that is far worse, unfortunately. Let me give you an example. When the covid-19 pandemic broke in, panic has spread like wildfire and the first thing people started to buy like crazy was flour, sugar, rice and semolina. These are kind of basic products you can survive with at home. Again, let me underline that this wasn't crises, it was just panic, but the flour gone missing for almost two months. Vegetable prices went up by 50% in some cases because these were brought in from other countries. Masks, hand sanitizers and other basic goods were also missing for a month or two as those were imported from God knows where as well.

How Independent Is Your Country?

What kind of independence is that, when you can't put the basic food on the shelves, not to mention the medical supplies?

When the government is focused on milking funds and the head of state is a yes man, concerned only with how to look great in the eyes of the greater powers, chances for things to change are slim to none.

I stated this before and stressing the importance again. It's time to wake up, work out a plan to help agriculture and production. It's time to drop the self-interest behavior and think about the country and people long term. It's time to help local businesses to grow, work towards being independent economically and politically as well.

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In The Meantime

We are key players in this game and we all have our part in this. It depends on you if you support this or not. Buy local products, support local farmers and businesses to keep your money in the country. The two months lockdown was hard on everyone, the consequences are yet to appear, so every little help counts.

Farmers markets and fairs are back, last week I've been collecting business cards and flyers from local producers, gathering information about how I can buy from them in case another lockdown comes in. These are people struggling to make ends meet, many of the offering home delivery for free to help. It's time we do our part as well.

Make a list of the products you're usually buying, look at the labels and see where those are coming from. Try to find local farmers and producers. It's hard in the beginning but I'm sure you'll be able to find most of the things you need, locally.



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Tell me honestly, why do we need garlic from China, carrots from Poland, pepper from Spain and beans from the Netherlands?

What kind of independence is that, when you can't put the basic food on the shelves, not to mention the medical supplies?

I have been wondering the same thing. This global market has some particularities which make no sense to me...

For example, why does Portugal produces potatoes to export but we cannot buy Portuguese potatoes in the supermarket, because those potatoes come from Germany or Poland? 🤔

I don't get the logic of producing potatoes to export... and then importing potatoes instead of selling our own potatoes to our own people. This is a crazy world, for sure. 🙄

And this happens with many other fruits and vegetables, as well.

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I don't get the logic of producing potatoes to export... and then importing potatoes instead of selling our own potatoes to our own people.

THis only makes sense if there's something to gain from it. I mean exporting at a high price and importing at a lower price.

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This only makes sense if there's something to gain from it. I mean exporting at a high price and importing at a lower price.

In that case, wouldn't it be easier to import at a lower price and resell them at a higher price? That way they could skip production altogether and would save a lot on the costs. 🤣

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Let's not forget that there are taxes to pay, depending on whee you're buying from and these are details I'm not up to date with.
However, I'd be happy to see 3 - 4 types of the same vegetable on the shelf, coming from different countries (if must) at different prices so the buyer can decide, but it's not like that as i could only find one of each, except for the garlic of course.

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Truth is no one can compete with China as they are using prison labor. I watched a series about this called Dirty Money and their Garlic monopoly a year or so ago and it was rather shocking.

Surely farmers can grow enough locally and there should be something to make sure they do and any other product that is imported.

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There's garlic at the farmers, and you can see the difference between the two, not only regarding the price but the quality as well.
We are usually growing out own but this year is a disaster.

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Congratulations @erikah! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You made more than 23000 comments. Your next target is to reach 24000 comments.

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Lol, interesting. One never thinks about how many comments are made, at least I don't. Seeing these numbers is fun. Thanks!

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You're welcome @erikah! Engagement is key and you are a great role model for it 😉👍
cheers, liz

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This is an old problem. Some time ago I could not buy anything and I dreamed of the opulence I saw in the west (in movies or photos), then they all came to us and I found that they are not as good as we knew in the past, those that occurred in our country. But they were much more presentable and good-looking. Anyway, we threw ourselves to buy for the joy of importers, most Arabs and Turks if we talk about fruits and vegetables. We became captives.

Unfortunately, local producers, small local producers are no longer seen. In my market, three quarters of the so-called local producers sell vegetables and fruits, which they buy wholesale.

Lately I have noticed more and more local producers who have invested in agriculture, greenhouses and sell goods in Romania. Unfortunately, they use seeds from abroad, from the Netherlands, and their products do not differ much from those in other countries, they still seem to be imported but more expensive!

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Unfortunately I know what you mean and can remember those times.
I don't mind if the seeds are from abroad, from the Netherlands, that is still good as Dutch know what they are doing and you can trust their seeds. You're right, there are quite a few that are operating greenhouses, which is good.
Let's hope one day we'll see indigenous products on the shelves.

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Yes, let's hope! In this regard I like to be optimistic.

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It is indeed a mystery. I live in the north of Spain. I can't understand why products that are traditionally grown in this region, like potatoes and kiwis, are so expensive--really they should be cheaper if they are grown here, right?

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It should be cheaper and they don't have to pay so much for transportation but who knows what's the secret behind these things.
Thanks for commenting. I saw you're on Etsy too. I'm going to check out your blog and Etsy shop as soon as possible. I'm glad to meet fellow Hive users who are on Etsy too :) I'll be back!

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Nice! I just looked at your shop--you have really lovely things!

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Thank you! I'm going to look at yours tonight.

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