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Accountability, Traceability and a few
cloves of Garlic
Gussow's comments relate to something that the Slow Food
movement holds as basic principles, that of traceability and
accountability. Where did it come from and who made or grew
it, and was it done in a natural sustainable manner?
In the market a few weeks ago I bought a few heads of
garlic and I paid about three times as much as I would have
in the local Coles supermarket. That's because it was
Australian grown garlic (most
commercial quantity comes from the Riverland area). It was selling for about $12 a
kilo. I knew immediately that it was locally grown because of the root base
that was prominent on the bulb. As you'll see in the
photograph above, all imported garlic has to have those
roots cut off and the base is treated with chemicals to ensure
that there are no soil organisms or diseases imported with
it.
Growing garlic commercially in Australia is a tough
business. Although the growers have been getting around $7 a
kilo this year and the active healthy ingredients in the
local product (such as allicin that has been shown to lower
cholesterol levels) are higher than in imported product, the future
doesn't look good. There are no import restrictions or
tariffs to protect a small market (and you could argue there shouldn't be) so we import thousands of tonnes of garlic every year, while growing less than 300
tonnes.
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The American garlic industry has the same problem. In an
old article I found online, a US lawyer Mike Coursey is
quoted...
"In 1992, imports to the U.S. from China were between 3
million and 4 million pounds," Coursey said. "Two years
later in 1994, Chinese imports exceeded 64 million pounds.
Considering that 150 million pounds are used in the U.S.
annually, you can imagine the impact this had on American
garlic growers." Chinese imports resulted in an even worse
scenario than strong competition, however. It was quickly
determined that China was "dumping" garlic at prices far
below what it cost farmers to grow it. (One figure quotes
an early '90's price of 1 cent a pound.)
"Another
problem was the conflicting growing season," Coursey
continued. "Chinese crops go to market on top of U.S.
crops. Garlic imports from other countries, such as Mexico
and South America, complement the U.S. growing season
because their garlic is brought to market during the
months that the U.S. isn’t supplying the commodity."
Canada effects a 91 cent per kilogram
duty on Chinese garlic imported between July and December,
the peak supply months for the local product but it is not
taxed the rest of the year which seems a fair system.
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