It is a world wide problem that is a result of the pursuit of globalism. It has corrupted capitalism and turned it into corporatism leading to a global corporatocracy. The need is economic policies to prevent consolidation of market into just a few mega sized corporations, and to force them to break up or not allow them to vertically intergrade.
One of the keys is to eliminate middle men. Producers, especially smaller producers, should be able to sell directly to retailers and consumers.
One more issue that is faced by small producers is the reliability of the supply chain. With the exception of green houses, small producers are seasonal in nature, especially in Canada. Large grocery store chains want to have lettuce & greens, along with green peppers, and peaches all year long. They have a wide range of products such as Avocado's available 365 days a year. Small local producers are not able to do this, which means that in my local grocery store, there are Apples from New Zealand being sold, despite the fact that it is November 7th (40 days from the apple harvest in British Columbia). Large chains sign contracts with suppliers who can meet these standards, which cuts the local producers who cannot out.
This isn't really a new thing. Use coffee as an example. It is a world-wide product only produced in a few parts of the world.
Where in can be grown local I think the economic policies should favor small local producers. Where it cannot, then have economic policies that keep the global supply chain healthy.
Producers can sell right now to retailers (small grocery store & even big grocery stores). Producers can also sell right now to consumers at farmers markets.
Consumers have expectations, that local small producers often cannot meet. For instance, consumers expect fruit to be perfect in appearance. This partly the result of conditioning by big Agriculture that uses lots of techniques (pesticides, bug netting, etc.) that small producers do not have access to, but also due to evolutionary instincts. (Humans associate flaws in produce with bad or spoiled produce). Small local producers have a hard time meeting these standards as meeting them is capital intensive.
Point being, people will walk right by the locally produced carrot (not a perfect cone) to get carrots that look perfect. Point being, consumer expectations is a major barrier to small producers.
Even things like the color of the egg yolks is a big issue. Egg yolks in the eggs in major grocery stores are all pale, even the "0rganic" ones. My mother could not sell her eggs because the yolks were dark yellow, which is a sign that the chickens are eating well. (Green grass, insects, etc.) They were also unwashed, which meant that sometimes there was stuff on them, which many people did not want. Ironically, this is cultural, as people from countries such as India actually want eggs with dark yolks and unwashed.
Everyone starts these discussions from Covid and what has happened since then, but these well-educated, university and MSM employed people your guests represent always seem to start from the pov that Covid was a fait a complit, that the narrative in say, the Globe, was what actually happened, and go from there. Judging from your anecdote about the supermarket worker, Tara, you seem to buy the same narrative, ‘risking his life to do his job’ and all that nonsense which science has long since shown to be untrue.
So it’s hard to listen to these well-educated, seemingly well-meaning authors converse with you about all these important things, when your perspective sits on false premise: that Covid was what the MSM said it was. Your collective credibility shrinks to nothing because despite all your intelligence, you don’t exhibit any critical thinking. So what real validity can your opinions or those of your guests actually contain? It’s clear they want some sort of regulatory solution (ridiculous) and your guest’s idea that putting all the newspapers on the dole has been a good idea doesn’t make me want to buy the book. I think we all would have appreciated some harder pushback on that one Tara, so maybe pull back on the politeness a bit.
This comment may seem too focussed on the pandemic, but it was the single most influential event in all of our lifetimes, so ‘moving on’ without acknowledging and scrutinizing its impact on whatever issues you choose to focus on, leaves you accomplishing nothing. You’re losing all of your readers who refused the jab and suffered for it, because despite your lip service to them about the mandates, their reality is completely different from yours, and to them, discussions like these are just the blind leading the blind.
Tara, you have opened another important debate. Thank you.
I will bring my two cents to the table.
1. Focusing on taxes misses the point. It is not wealth that matters, but rather power. Any long term response needs to focus on the concentration of power in any individuals, or groups hands. What this means is that we need to recognize that Concentration of Power in the hands of Oligarchs is dangerous, but so is the concentration power in the hands of "faceless, nameless bureaucracy". Most dangerous of all, is when the Oligarchs and the "Faceless, nameless bureaucrats" get together. Decentralization for me is the only way forward.
2. People in Canada are enculturated to the familiar. We think everything is about price, but my experience is that most people don't even look at the price. They just go to Walmart because it is familiar, convenient, and we have heard for 30 years that "the lowest price is the law".
It is a world wide problem that is a result of the pursuit of globalism. It has corrupted capitalism and turned it into corporatism leading to a global corporatocracy. The need is economic policies to prevent consolidation of market into just a few mega sized corporations, and to force them to break up or not allow them to vertically intergrade.
One of the keys is to eliminate middle men. Producers, especially smaller producers, should be able to sell directly to retailers and consumers.
One more issue that is faced by small producers is the reliability of the supply chain. With the exception of green houses, small producers are seasonal in nature, especially in Canada. Large grocery store chains want to have lettuce & greens, along with green peppers, and peaches all year long. They have a wide range of products such as Avocado's available 365 days a year. Small local producers are not able to do this, which means that in my local grocery store, there are Apples from New Zealand being sold, despite the fact that it is November 7th (40 days from the apple harvest in British Columbia). Large chains sign contracts with suppliers who can meet these standards, which cuts the local producers who cannot out.
This isn't really a new thing. Use coffee as an example. It is a world-wide product only produced in a few parts of the world.
Where in can be grown local I think the economic policies should favor small local producers. Where it cannot, then have economic policies that keep the global supply chain healthy.
Producers can sell right now to retailers (small grocery store & even big grocery stores). Producers can also sell right now to consumers at farmers markets.
Consumers have expectations, that local small producers often cannot meet. For instance, consumers expect fruit to be perfect in appearance. This partly the result of conditioning by big Agriculture that uses lots of techniques (pesticides, bug netting, etc.) that small producers do not have access to, but also due to evolutionary instincts. (Humans associate flaws in produce with bad or spoiled produce). Small local producers have a hard time meeting these standards as meeting them is capital intensive.
Point being, people will walk right by the locally produced carrot (not a perfect cone) to get carrots that look perfect. Point being, consumer expectations is a major barrier to small producers.
Even things like the color of the egg yolks is a big issue. Egg yolks in the eggs in major grocery stores are all pale, even the "0rganic" ones. My mother could not sell her eggs because the yolks were dark yellow, which is a sign that the chickens are eating well. (Green grass, insects, etc.) They were also unwashed, which meant that sometimes there was stuff on them, which many people did not want. Ironically, this is cultural, as people from countries such as India actually want eggs with dark yolks and unwashed.
Thank you, as always, for asking the question about solutions, go-forwards, the light in the darkness.
Everyone starts these discussions from Covid and what has happened since then, but these well-educated, university and MSM employed people your guests represent always seem to start from the pov that Covid was a fait a complit, that the narrative in say, the Globe, was what actually happened, and go from there. Judging from your anecdote about the supermarket worker, Tara, you seem to buy the same narrative, ‘risking his life to do his job’ and all that nonsense which science has long since shown to be untrue.
So it’s hard to listen to these well-educated, seemingly well-meaning authors converse with you about all these important things, when your perspective sits on false premise: that Covid was what the MSM said it was. Your collective credibility shrinks to nothing because despite all your intelligence, you don’t exhibit any critical thinking. So what real validity can your opinions or those of your guests actually contain? It’s clear they want some sort of regulatory solution (ridiculous) and your guest’s idea that putting all the newspapers on the dole has been a good idea doesn’t make me want to buy the book. I think we all would have appreciated some harder pushback on that one Tara, so maybe pull back on the politeness a bit.
This comment may seem too focussed on the pandemic, but it was the single most influential event in all of our lifetimes, so ‘moving on’ without acknowledging and scrutinizing its impact on whatever issues you choose to focus on, leaves you accomplishing nothing. You’re losing all of your readers who refused the jab and suffered for it, because despite your lip service to them about the mandates, their reality is completely different from yours, and to them, discussions like these are just the blind leading the blind.
Tara, you have opened another important debate. Thank you.
I will bring my two cents to the table.
1. Focusing on taxes misses the point. It is not wealth that matters, but rather power. Any long term response needs to focus on the concentration of power in any individuals, or groups hands. What this means is that we need to recognize that Concentration of Power in the hands of Oligarchs is dangerous, but so is the concentration power in the hands of "faceless, nameless bureaucracy". Most dangerous of all, is when the Oligarchs and the "Faceless, nameless bureaucrats" get together. Decentralization for me is the only way forward.
2. People in Canada are enculturated to the familiar. We think everything is about price, but my experience is that most people don't even look at the price. They just go to Walmart because it is familiar, convenient, and we have heard for 30 years that "the lowest price is the law".
I noticed you didn't mention the CBC as a monopolist.