About $250 Mellon.
The $ 250 Mellon.
Its a melon, just a melon - not made of Gold.
This is what any typical Canadian would say in their right mind.
The question then arises; Why, and WHO (other than the insanely rich) would actually pay THIS MUCH for a MELON?
Obviously a market for such produce DOES exist.
It would be a great understatement to say the Japanese are proud of the fruits and vegetables they grow.
It wouldn't be far from the mark to say Japanese believes the fruit and vegetables are far superior to those produced in other countries. And for this reason they ARE on rare occassion - if they can afford it - willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a single mellon. I think most Canadian farmers would label this as "arrogance", "nationalism" or just plain insanity
(Hey Bob, sell it to em if they're willin to pay...crazy city folk!)
Which I happen to agree with... there is no LOGICAL reason to pay so much money
for a piece of fruit. But as the son of a doomed farmer, someone who grew up on a small fruit orchard in Ontario...Knowing that it was going to be impossible to carry on in my fathers footsteps because we just couldn't compete with larger more efficient farms from the States, Mexico and even China.
I APPLAUD the Japanese for taking pride in buying homegrown produce.
And I wish I could say the same about Canadians, but the market as compared with Japan is simply NOT there.
(some small aceptions ie "organic produce from Salt Spring Island)
So - Why IS there a market for high-quality expensive fruits in Japan?
It evolved out of necessity.
Japan, contrary to popular belief is NOT a small country, it's bigger than Germany.
But *it is a very mountainous country, there isn't much farming land and land is also very expensive.
Big production farms are entirely out of the question. And with China next door, Japan just can't compete in making cheap food produce. Instead of producing alot of food - Japan has instead taken decided to take top of the line scientific measures in making small quantities of high quality foods.
Japanese farmers have with the assistance of the government decided to wage a national campaign,It goes a little like this;
"The Best Mellons in the world are grown in Hokkaido", "The Best Beef in The World is Grown in Kobe",
"The best Radish comes from Nerima" etc. This campaign has been going on for years and years, and it does fall in line with the ancient Japanese Shinto religion, that promotes regional mysticism.
Combined with news reports about poisoned or tainted rice, gyoza or other products coming in from abroad - mostly China, Japanese grown fruits and vegetable have become in the minds of most Japanese not only a "better" product but as well as "safer" product to eat. This campaign has gone on for so long, that it is no longer an "opinion" but has become a matter of "fact".
I'm not debating here weather or not Japanese Mango ARE in fact better tasting and more delicious than those from the Phillipines, there most be exclellent mangos from various countries around the world.
What I'm saying is this;
Bad "Homegrown" fruits do NOT make their way to the market vendor.
And buyers are therefore lead to believe that for the most part these fruits are perfect.
I hope that small family farms in Canada take note of these practices.
Really take a close look at how this market has developed and evolved in Japan: To Emulate it Ourselves.
If it is not the intention of small farms to compete with the "big boys" we really have no other options.
Its an unfortunate that the Canadian government isn't really interested in helping out the family farm
and the most beautiful of lifestyles is slowly dissapperaing under the rule of "globalization", "free-trade" and "fair competition" .It's unfortunate as well that most Canadians as well would much rather buy an apple from China for half the price, than one from up the road.
I therefore call upon every family farm back in my hometown Harrow, to start banning together to create a legend or myth of our own. Regional, high-quality produce is the only way to go. How does this sound; "because of the specific combination of soil properties only found in Essex country and the regions micro-climate, towns along the north shore of Lake Erie produce some of the best fruits, vegetables and wines in the entire world."
Let this not be a matter of opinion, but fact.
