I have been expecting fisks of this article.
How to Oppress Third World Farmers--Please Consumers
By Kevin on International - Low Prices Blog
An extensive New York Times article has WM and other antagonists oppressing third world farmers by stiffing co-operatives and requiring advanced farming methods:
cross Latin America, supermarket chains partly or wholly owned by global corporate goliaths like Ahold, Wal-Mart and Carrefour have revolutionized food distribution in the short span of a decade and have now begun to transform food growing, too.
The megastores are popular with customers for their lower prices, choice and convenience. But their sudden appearance has brought unanticipated and daunting challenges to millions of struggling, small farmers.
The stark danger is that increasing numbers of them will go bust and join streams of desperate migrants to America and the urban slums of their own countries.
But it's actually supermarkets in Latin America that have upped the standards production and distribution:
To enter the supermarkets of Guatemala's dominant supermarket chain, La Fragua - part of a holding company one-third owned by Ahold - is to understand why Professor Reardon likens them to a Trojan horse for foreign goods.
At La Fragua's immense distribution center in Guatemala City, trucks back into loading docks, where electric forklifts unload apples from Washington State, pineapples from Chile, potatoes from Idaho and avocados from Mexico.
The produce is trucked from here to the chain's supermarkets, which now span the country. Scenes at a mall in Guatemala City anchored by Maxi Bodega, one of the company's stores, suggest the evolving nature of grocery shopping for Latin America's 512 million people.
The bottom line:
Farmers who do not or cannot afford to change fast enough to meet the standards set by supermarkets are threatened.
However, the article wants to imply things are worse than they really are. :
The number of people living below poverty lines in Latin America has risen from 200 million in 1990 to 224 million this year. More than 6 in 10 people living in rural areas are still poor.
While the number of poor people rose by 24 million from 200 to 224 million, the number of people rose 68 million from 432 to 500 million, so the poverty rate decreased from 200/432=46.3% to 224/500=44.8% (presuming we're talking about LA and the Caribbean). |
