Baguio strawberry picking late this season
My school chum, Lisa, known in the blogging world as the Baguio Insider, writes that strawberry picking in the La Trinidad farms in Benguet is a few months late this season. But while the price of fresh strawberries seems to be dropping in Baguio City, from P250 per kilo in late November to P80 per kilo this week according to Lisa, they are horribly priced in Metro Manila and the suburbs. I bought 250 grams of strawberries last night — for P70! Which means I’ll be stretching the 250 grams to eternity. A few pieces for my strawberry milkshake breakfast this morning; the rest will be for my first attempt at making ice cream at home.
In an article published in the Sun Star in March, La Trinidad farmers are reportedly pushing for the production of organic strawberries and the local government seems supportive. There is no data, however, to show if the shift to organic strawberry farming will mean higher, equal or lower production.
The current production of strawberries from the conventional farming is about 20 tons per hectare, based on the records of MAO. There are no available data on the production of organic strawberries yet.
If we are to make an assessment based on the current prices of organic vegetables in the market, it is easy enough to assume that organically produced strawberries will be less in volume. And, as with most organic produce, the lower production is attributed to the absence of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Yet, if we look hard at the situation, if farmers don’t have to spend for fertilizers and pesticides, despite the lower production, the prices shouldn’t go up that much. An offset, really. High production cost = high volume of produce vis a vis low production cost = lower volume of produce. It isn’t just even the fertilizers and pesticides that organic farmers save on but the equipment necessary to apply the fertilizers and pesticides. All of which makes me wonder whether the high prices of organic produce are not, in fact, artificial. It’s a question I’ve been researching on for quite a while. Are organic farmers inflating the prices of their produce because they are aware of the high demand especially in an age where “back to nature” seems to be the most fashionable mantra?
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“Are organic farmers inflating the prices of their produce because they are aware of the high demand especially in an age where “back to nature” seems to be the most fashionable mantra?”
We’ve been thinking about that too! The same goes for organic chickens!
I’m sure we’re all better off eating food without the added chemicals, but the price of organic anything is like saying health is only for the affluent.
Organic anything is currently higher because the demand exceeds the supply. And the yield is lower because the pests (since they’re pesticide-free) tend to eat up a lot of the produce. But if the whole country goes organic (uber wishful thinking on my part) then the supply may even exceed the demand, which brings prices down. Right now choose — more expensive ingredients or medical bills?
Let me play the devil’s advocate. Been eating veggies and animals treated with all kinds of fertilizers/growth hormones and pesticides/vaccines all my life. So has the rest of my generation. And life expectancy is higher than the last generation’s. Who’s to say that the supposed health benefits of organic produce isn’t part of the marketing strategy of organic farmers?
Organic farming generally results in lower yields, given the fixed capital inputs. An organic farmer raising free-range chickens would yield less per hectare and per unit of labor than a farmer using the mass-production system. The cost of the feed and antibiotics is offset by the fewer chickens you get on the same fixed asset (largely land) and labor costs.
As for the devil’s advocate argument. Air pollution in Manila has gone up dramatically over the last 40 years, but life expectancy in Manila is also higher. Does that mean that we should abandon efforts to improve air quality? And that all these antipollution efforts are just a marketing strategy of the makers of catalytic converters?
Loderunner12, no one makes any financial profit from getting cleaner air. So the campaign for cleaner air can hardly be a marketing strategy. Parallelism does not apply.
And if you look at the first paragraph of your comment, then, there really is no reason for the horribly high prices of organic produce unless you argue that the “fixed capital input” is the same with or without fertilizers, pesticides and equipment for their application.
The motivation for buying organic varies from person to person. Aside from health reasons and concern for the environment, I worry about the effects pesticide exposure has on the farmers using them. In the Salinas Valley, not far from where I live, most of these farmers are low-income migrant workers who live close to the ground, so to speak, with their wives and children. Exposure to DDT, for example, have been shown to have adverse neurological effects on babies of California farm workers. Pesticides have also been found in the groundwater in Monterey Bay and the Salinas Valley Basin, hitting even closer to home.
I’d like to buy more organic products, milk especially, but the cost is truly off-putting. These days, I tend to just get the “must-buy” organic items, strawberries included, and only when the price jump is not too steep. Consumer Reports has a list here: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food/diet-nutrition/organic-products/organic-products-206/when-buying-organic-pays-and-doesnt/index.htm
Re “the effects pesticide exposure has on the farmers”
That reminds me of a case here in the Philippines about farmers planting Monsanto corn. A whole village getting sick. Sad truth is anything can be labeled “organic”, even those planted with toxic chemicals, and consumers won’t know any better. Even with farmers, corporations can sell them “organic” fertilizers and they won’t really know. Then they’ll pass off their produce as “organic”, with no intention to lie to the public.