This evening on NBC, I saw a report about the plight of the apple farmers in Washington state. The report indicated that the apple farmers are basically going out of business because the can't compete with the apple market from China.

China is supposed to be one of the high risk countries. What happens to the produce if China or any other country that we import food from has problems either processing their product and/or shipping it? I would think that specifically in the case of China,that if they have a problem with electrical power then that would have to either slow down or stop the processing procedure.

Maybe those farmers that hang on will end up making a barrel of money since their's will be the only show in town. I hope the do 'cause I really like apple pie.

-- B.Clark (mrmomx6@aol.com), October 19, 1999

Answers

According to reports I have seen, the U.S. imports over half its food, most of it from third world countries who don't have much to trade but food products. If Y2K disrupts the production and marketing of food in these countries, we'll have a lot less to eat here. I expect this to happen. The apple growers in Washington state will be just as hungry as the rest of us unless they plan to eat primarily apples all the time.

-- cody varian (cody@y2ksurvive.com), October 19, 1999.

I, too, saw that newscast, and it broke my heart! American farmers, growing that most American of products, "apple pie, mother and country," are having to tear out their trees and go under financially, and out of business ultimately...because they cannot compete with the cheap prices of apples from our enemy, China.

There is a LOT wrong with this picture. How far this nation has come from the one that encouraged American enterprise, when we can decide to opt for cheaper produce from a nation that vows to plow us under over the produce of hard-working American farmers. We deserve what we get down the road, I fear.

-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), October 19, 1999.

I've got my two baby apple trees planted in my front yard...may be another year before they fruit though. :-)

Got apples -- will make pie.

-- Shelia (Shelia@active-stream.com), October 19, 1999.

Oh, tear out the trees?!!! Have they lost their minds?!

I'm amazed too at the mentality that would import apples from across the world rather than eat what is grown here in the US. Must be part of the new world trade agreements. We chop down our giant evergreen trees, send them to Japan; and the Chinese send us apples.

Pretty soon we will have nothing left that anyone wants...no food, no wood products, no money....then we will indeed look around and find out we have ripped the guts out of our viability as a productive nation. What do we sell then? Oh, I forgot, we can give away our land.

-- Shelia (Shelia@active-stream.com), October 19, 1999.

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Living in Michigan has the advantage of a wonderful array of choice apple orchards available.

I'm also putting together a list of local public parks that have been planted with fruit bearing trees! They'll need to be protected/rationed, of course, if needed.

I've planted my own Bartlett pear tree. They're cheap at this time of year from the nurseries.

Get creative and think "outside of the box" for viable alternatives.

Regards, Bob Mangus

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-- Robert Mangus (rmangus@hotmail.com), October 19, 1999.

Years ago I had a modest beekeeping business (30 or so hives of bees) and the price of honey was basically determined by the Chinese imported honey prices, and kept going down below the cost of production (if you wanted to make more than a couple of cents an hour). So now it is apples too. We grow some apples, more each year as the trees mature, and buy the rest locally, mostly from an organic orchard even though the prices are higher than the big commercial outfits. But we feel that we are supporting local farmers and businesses, not big corporations that send the profits out of town or even overseas.

-- Jim (jiminwis@yahoo.com), October 19, 1999.