Farmers Dread Food Imports

Fresh veggies, even the size is different.

Money. Everything has a price tag. Behind every price tag is a country where the dress was made, the mango was grown, the sugar cane was cut, the salmon was fished, pasta was dried and packaged and where socks were made.

I seldom come across vegetables with a ‘Canada’ tag. Food is a business, whether I like it or not. But it’s still wrong to buy garlic that entered Canada through a group visa: thousands of garlic bulbs tightly packed in shipping containers, while Canadian farmers produce the same product. I know they can, because of farmers markets. If Canada has soil, it can also produce garlic. If Canada receives the sun (thank God Elon Musk cannot buy it), it can also produce garlic. If Canada receives rain, it can also produce garlic.

I thought garlic was white, until I saw these locally-grown bulbs, from the local farmers' market. The taste is different from store ones.

Farmers from other countries understand the plight of Canadian farmers. Once upon a time, before we were ‘developed’, we produced food to eat. We dried it, stored it in granaries or in the ceiling then sold the rest. Then food became a business. Farmers all over the world grow crops for Canada, U.S. and Europe. They think exports first, before growing what the kids will eat. I buy bananas because they are cheap. Why are they cheap? Because they are grown cheaply in Columbia, Puerto Rico or Guatemala. Do farmers in these countries even eat them? I don’t know.

Farmers must eat first, then sell what is extra. That is a pipe dream because food is a business. I will visit the local farmers’ market on Wednesday as usual, to buy garlic, tomatoes, pumpkin, peas and bell peppers without a country tag.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

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