On Thu, 29 May 2003 15:04:58 GMT, Malcolm wrote:


There is a similar vicious circle involved in food
production/processing/distribution.

Yeah but not many of us will deliberately coat liberal; quantities of
highly toxic poisons onto peoples foodstuffs, not knowingly anyway,
and then still claim innocence.

I think knowledgeable people here (uk.business.agriculture) have, and will,
challenge(d) your reference to "highly toxic poisons".

The people who have the power to break these vicious circles are
governments. Unfortunately some of the actions they would need to take are
so disruptive and draconian that they recoil from them.

I blame the producers in equally parts, no one forces them to use
poisons, they choose to.

You say "they choose to" - what are other practical choices are available?
Remember that "practical" includes issues of cost and saleability.

No producer is going to waste money on "highly toxic poisons" if there are
less toxic, equally effective and/or cheaper alternatives.

Anything that increases the cost of production moves the producer that much
closer to being priced out of the market - and out of business.

Most produce coming off farms goes directly or indirectly to supermarkets.
Guess who sets the prices that are paid for the produce.

Supermarkets pride themselves on their ability to get what they need, of a
quality specified by them, at any time of the year, from almost anywhere in
the world. If the price is even fractionally too high the supermarket buyer
will so "NO".

--
Peter Duncanson
UK