SOMETHING WRONG

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 91, 14 October 1940, Page 6

SOMETHING WRONG

When a commercial grower has to give away a crop of leeks rather than dig them in because he cannot get a payable price in the markets, while consumers have had to pay a penny each for leeks in shops, it is natural to conclude that there is something wrong with the distributing system. This has been the experience of Mr. C. Wheatley, a Lower Hutt market gardener. While the public have shown their appreciation of his generosity by coming from far and wide to help themselves to the crop of leeks gratis, except for the trouble of digging them, it would serve the general interest better if growers, like Mr. Wheatley, could get a remunerative price for the vegetables they produce, and at the same time householders and other consumers did not have to pay through the nose for such necessary items in a proper dietary. The complaint of producer and consumer alike does not apply to leeks alone; if it is not leeks, it is something else in the food line, but particularly vegetables and fruit. What the consumer wants is a decent article at a reasonable price, and the producer feels that he is entitled to a reasonable return for a product of sound standard. The general public understand that the Internal Marketing Department was created to achieve this double purpose of satisfying both producer and consumer and of reconciling, as far as possible, their interests. Has it succeeded? \ The buying public^ are certainly ijot satisfied, either with quality or price, and the experience of the Hutt Valley grower throws light on the position of the producer. What have the authorities to say about it?