The Rural Voice, 2002-11, Page 14LESLIE HAWKEN
& SON
Custom Manufacturing
LIVESTOCK & FARM EQUIPMENT
• Big Bale Racks
• Cattle Panels
• Headgates & Chutes
• Portable Loading Chutes
• Gate-Nlounted Grain Feeders
• Feed Panels
• Self Locking Feed Mangers
Round Bale Feeder
Self Standing Yard Divider
For the best quality and service - Call
Jim Hawken
RR #3 Markdale 519-986-2507
19-65 HP 4WD
llniv�ersal
TRACTOR
SNOWBLOWERS
GATES
FEEDERS
BOYD FARM
SUPPLY
RR 6 Owen Sound
519-376-5880
10 THE RURAL VOICE
Jeffrey Carter
Apple market leaves a sour taste
Jeffrey
Carter is a
freelance
journalist
based in
Dresden,
Ontario.
I've just bitten into an Ontario
apple. The scent and savour are
pleasant. both tart and sweet, bold at
beginning with a pleasant taste still
lingering as 1 write these first words.
Apples are one 'heck' of a
bargain. 1 bought a half bushel of
Empires for $5 at the general store in
Kintore in Oxford County.
There's much more to an apple
than the sensory delights and price,
however. They're also versatile in the
kitchen and highly nutritious.
A medium-sized apple with its
skin left on contains about 10 per
cent of your daily fibre requirement.
They're a good source of potassium
and vitamin C and contain several
other nutrients. A single apple
satisfies but only contains about 80
calories.
Given all these factors, isn't it
curious that while you can purchase a
half bushel of apples for five dollars,
people will pay that much or more for
a case of soda pop and not blink an
eyc. There's not a heck of a lot in a
can of pop other than water, flavour,
sugar or artificial sweetening, and
colouring.
Pop manufacturers seem to be
thriving though, judging from their
ability to spend money on
advertising. Apple growers are not.
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and
Food statistics show there were more
than 30,000 acres of apples in 1985.
Two years ago, it was estimated there
were 23,000 acres of bearing trees.
The markup for apples at Kintore
was modest. The majority of apples
in Ontario, however, are sold through
the large grocery chains. I've often
seen 99 cents per pound displayed,
about 10 times more than what the
growers receive but that's still a
bargain.
Typically, when you walk into the
fruit and vegetable sections of the
chain stores, the first apples you see
are imports from Washington State,
Chile. New Zealand, South Africa
and so forth. The Ontario apples are
normally around the other side - if
they're there at all.
The low farm -gate price is often
blamed on the global oversupply. The
bigger concern — from a grower's
perspective — is one of under supply.
There's too few buyers. The market
for apples and most other food in
Canada is essentially controlled by a
handful of distribution and retail
giants. The U.S. situation is similar.
For farmers, there are no easy
answers. Marketing boards are often
ineffectual in the face of global
competition. Government appears to
be unable or. as is more likely the
case. unwilling to act.
Rural communities, meanwhile.
bear the brunt of the inequity which
reaches far beyond Ontario's few
apple growers. Society, as a whole,
will also pay — eventually.
The wealth of the land is not
being given its due. That upsets the
balance of things. Nature, sooner or
later, will restore the balance.
Whether that creates upheaval for the
earth's human inhabitants, Nature
cares not.0
• CUSTOM FARM SIGNS,
CARVED CEDAR
OR PLYWOOD
PHONE/FAX
519-343-4125
1-888-RAYNBOW
Palmerston
www.raynbowsigns.com
Great gift
ideas
The Rural Voice
welcomes your opinions for our
Feedback letters to the editor
column.
Mail to: The Rural Voice,
PO Box 429,
Blyth, ON NOM 1H0