logos999

We import our food from the 3rd world. LOL
Egypt just has new potatos. Who cares if they have enough to eat or not!

annhig

but logos, just think about what happens to the egyptian growers if we stop buying their spuds.

I used to think just the same way about Kenyan french beans until I heard a radio programme all about the growers and the way that being able to export the beans [and flowers, apparently] has transformed their lives.

things are often so much more complicated than we think.

logos999

Hmmm annhig, let me think about it. There's only so much arable land in the nile valley. The whole crop of potatos is shipped to Alexandria and to Hamburg from there. It ends up in the German stores sold in 2.5 kilo bags at 2.39€ per bag. How much profit is in it for the farmer? The locals have to eat bread made from imported grain subsidized by their government.

Would it not make sense to produce at least something that can be sold at a higher profit, (cotton??), instead of shipping cheap potatos to Germany and importing grain from the US?

How can this ever work for the farmer?

annhig

but the Egyptians do produce cotton; perhaps it [and grain] can't be grown on the land that is used to produce potatoes.

I agree entirely with what you say but there must be some reason why this practice has grown up.

Bellarosa

Thanks for letting us know--my husband and I have wondered for years what those flowers were, and every time we asked, we were met with blank stares or shrugs.