January 2019 - 37

GROWER'S POSTCARD
A father-son team operated a mobile farmers' market. They lived two hours away. Once a week they
would sell throughout Kingston neighborhoods.
resembled an actual free market system
- literally - with wholesale and retail
markets in all parts of the city and
throughout the country. So, instead
of standing orders, invoices and
intermodal trucking, both wholesale
and retail buyers meet directly with
the farmer at market - a system that
used to be common in large regional
markets in the U.S. (such as Detroit's
Eastern Market).
In the very heart of Kingston, near the
ocean, lies the giant Coronation Market,
filled from Thursday to Saturday as the
produce of the entire country flows
into it. A labyrinth of stalls and tents
lie under steel roof and tarps. Farmers
from around the country and regional
wholesalers who bought from farmers
earlier in the week fill pick-up beds and
bigger trucks with cabbage, carrots,
greens, and everything in between.
It is interesting to observe which
crops are grown in Jamaica and which
are imported from abroad. I have
heard much about our " free trade "
practices hurting the Third World
farmers. Farmers in Guatemala and
Jamaica have told me that we in the
U.S. hamstring foreign farmers by
exporting produce to their countries at
a price much lower than those farmers
need to make a living. I imagine our
lower costs of production are due to
system efficiencies (or the existence of a
system), machinery, government support
and outright subsidies. Towering over
my head at Coronation Market were
pallets stacked high with 50-pound
bags of perfect white onions from the
Netherlands. I also saw retail-sized bags
of Chinese-grown garlic sold on every
street corner, as well as American rice,
wheat and Washington apples.
I know that many American vegetable
growers similarly find it hard to compete
with the low price of produce coming in
from Mexico, with that country's cheaper
cost of labor and lax regulations. Farming
is hard enough, and it is too bad that
farmers in one country can hurt those in
another, just by trying to make a living.
What do you think - is this just
the way the world works, or is there
an improvement to be made? Can
we have some kind of international
farmer solidarity or is it simply each
country's farmers pitted against those
in other countries, each looking out for
themselves? VGN
Stokes Seeds Trial Evaluation
Researching the best for
our customers since 1881.
A man drove by with a water tote in the back of his pickup. and
provided a ride to this writer. We stopped at this large well complex,
where water was sold to truckers. They then delivered the water to
homeowners and farmers.
DESPERADO
GRANDPRIZE
42 day, glossy deep yellow
fruit with strong outer walls.
Enhanced disease package.
53 day, high quality
medium green bean
with straight pods. Well
adapted for heat and stress
tolerances. Brown seed with
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plant vigor.
SPINELESS
SUPREME
EXCURSION
44 day, attractive high gloss
fruit with refined flecking
for a rich green color. Open
plant habit and spineless
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resistance.
Tom Pagels
NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, LI
609-247-7140
Randy DeMay
New York
585-747-3379
George Dobson
New York, MA, CT
585-734-7214
Karen Grybko
NH, VT, ME, MA, RI
603-654-5362
Tom Jacobs
MI, OH, IL
616-307-4322
Ken Wagner
IL, IN, MO
317-409-3445
81 day, blocky oval 1822
lb/8-10 kg light green
fruit, dark green stripes and
deep red very sweet flesh.
Potential for 50-36 count
fruit. ANTH and Fusarium
resistance.
Tom Dauria
NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, WV, LI
908-489-4896
- Quality Seed Since 1881 -
T: 1-800-263-7233 │ www.StokeSeeds.com │ Box 548 Buffalo NY 14240-0548
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VGN | JANUARY 2019 | 37
Carol Korey
New York
845-258-0172
Tim Clark
WI, MN, IA
608-609-5884
NEW
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January 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2019