[Oe List ...] Wal-Mart and the weapons of mass destruction

[PSchrijnen at aol.com]

>From an April Fools day joke to an interesting conversation. 
 
Supermarkets have made it possible to provide superb produce all through  the 
year at extremely low prices. And of course, if they didn't provide  
better/cheaper goods they wouldn't have put local shops out of business. Here in  my 
neighbourhood in London we have a mile a way a large supermarket and a third  
of a mile a way lots of local grocery shops. Some products are better in the  
supermarkets some in the local shops. They complement each other nicely, given  
that people still walk to shops here. We use both. 
 
There is a small, but growing movement in the UK of buying food that is  
grown locally, not so much in London for obvious reasons, but more in the  country 
side. And of course the supermarkets work closely with this. They like  to 
have their cake and eat it to, sell local produce at competitive prices and  
provide the broad range of stuff most of us buy for a weekly shopping list. 
 
Did the local shops in Ada go out of business because people stopped  walking 
to the shops or because they didn't provide good enough goods? Or some  
combination of both? 
 
The Vermont experiment is interesting. But there is another side.  Do  I want 
my politicians to decide who can sell what? Before China closed its doors  in 
1750 it was the worlds most thriving economy. Obviously there must be  
something in the water there that gets people to be entrepreneurial, as soon as  
politicians step aside. 
 
Also, markets need regulation as the sub-prime disaster has clarified even  
to hard nose investment bankers like Henry Paulson.  But given the state of  
poverty in many western countries,  I wouldn't want to stop people being  able 
to provide for their families with the best produce for the cheapest price. 
 
I was on holiday in Italy on a farm where Joshua (now 6) and I could pick  
our vegetables every day to prepare them for dinner. They also made their own  
wine. I did have to travel about a 1000 miles to get there, but it was worth 
it.  A highly valued experience from the good old days. 
 
Paul



   
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