Searchin´ for my lost Shaker o´ Salt

Greetings one and all, this is Elvagabundonumerouno dropping in to say ¡Buenas tardes amigos! Yesterday was the 4th of October, which also happens to be my Ma and Step-dad´s Anniversary. I´m a terrible son because I don´t actually know how many years they have been together. All I can say is that John has been in Ma and my lives for longer than I can remember. Without a doubt, I have watched these two souls meld into one, whole, functioning unit and I am grateful that Ma found such an awesome, caring and loving companion. Yes, I was jealous of her affection for John when he first came into the picture 15 or so years ago. They both hold to the story that I went so far as to kick the intruder once. But I honestly do not remember this violent outburst and have since refused to believe it. Okay, I can be quite the little bastard (sorry for the "French" Aunt Debbie, but this is clearly the perfect word to describe my demeanor sometimes) so maybe it´s possible that I did do something of the like. Fine, I kicked him when their love was fiirst taking root in the springtime of courtship. But now it is an absolute privilege to have John as part of the family, and I am honored to have him as a step-father. He and Ma do an excellent job at keeping each other on an even keel and I have no doubts that they will still be together in the afterlife. Whatever that may mean to you. So, with my most heartfetl congratulations, happy anniversary you two. I am literally raising my 8 ounce glass of Dos Medallas (Two Medals) Chilean wine to John and Ma being together forever.

Enough of the mushy stuff, speaking of Chilean wine, I bought a bottle of Santa Rita Cabernet Savignon in the grocery store today for $1.250 pesos. That´s right around $3 U.S. dollars for a decent bottle of wine. Not that I would have even the slightest inclination of what a decent bottle of wine tastes like... All I am saying is that it tastes a whole lot less sugary and gross than the $6 dollar bottle of wine I buy when I´m trying to impress a girl in the States. I´ve always been a beer drinker myself, but no matter the cost, or quality, wine will always register higher on the class scale than beer. Go figure right? This message goes out to Mike and Mary Jo Corby, Libby Wuestenberg, and anyone else who I may have forgetten who enjoys a nice glass of wine: If you´re looking for top notch product at a fraction of the price, it is definitely worth the trip to Chile. Seriously. More Europeanized than its other South American counterparts, you can find a nice, clean, friendly bed and breakfast with a wine tour included for less than $30 dollars. -Lonely Planet guide book

It amazes me that la primavera (springtime) already brings in fresh strawberries, oranges, apples, bananas, peppers, onions, potatoes, garlic, avacadoes, tomatoes, peas, and other fruits and veggies that I have inevitebly forgotten. An intensive study of Chile´s food system would be fascinating, but a bit of speculation will have to do for now. I´m inclined to mention the readily available fruits and vegetables available at the local verdulería because my diet has consisted mainly of the aforementioned items, chorizo and eggs. This combination produces a strange and horrific stomach brew that manifests itself in gaseous form, probably from the sheer change in eating habits. On the up side, I spend a lot of time walking around and am not around many people for a prolonged period of time so the only one who suffers is me. But I digress. I assume that the majority of the fruits and veggies don´t have to be shipped halfway around the globe in order for them to arrive in the hands of the consumer. Without crossing into the land of "preaching", but rather bordering it, have you ever looked where the peppers come from that are bought at Costco in the middle of winter for a relatively low price? For the majority of Americans it probably doesn´t even matter or effect them personally as long as the immediate price is low. Obviously this is a clear benefit of living in the U.S. We can get what we want, when we want it, without liquidating the savings account. But somewhere, someone is taking a hit for the service or goods they supply. Most all of the time, when dealing with the interconnected and globalized food market, it is the people closest to the source, or rather, the farmers. Let´s develop this thought a bit further although I know there has been many a researcher to do a much better job than I will. The easiest way for farmers to increase their profit is to provide more product, rather than increasing the quality of the product they are already supplying. Will an increased quality of product even be appreciated in the global marketplace? Or is cost the deciding factor of what stocks U.S. supermarket shelves? Just for the record these questions are not meant to be rhetorical, just open-ended musings that may lead somewhere and then again, may not. And those of us who live in wealthier nations are most definitely not going to settle for eating peppers in the summer but not in the winter. So, they must come from another location, clearly Canada can´t supply us with our favorite variety of greens all the time. In other words, the demand for out-of-season products is always present in places where money is of little or no object. In turn, the supply of these products will also be present based on one of the basic economic laws of capitalismo. Aren´t cognates great?

Here in Chile, I guess that I´m able to pay such a low price at the verdulería because the middlemen, or the transporters and holders that play a role in getting the product in the hands of the consumer, are utterly non-existant. So why are we able to pay such a low price at Costco or Fred Meyer for the "same" product when there are so many more people along the chain that also need to get their cuts? Here are some speculative reasons, feel free to mention anything I may have missed or overlooked!
1)The poverty level in export oriented countries can be very high. This makes individuals and families willing to accept lower than low prices for the foods and services they are provding.
2)Huge corporations are able to control the prices they pay for food products because the farmers need access to the evolving global marketplace.
3)Raw transportation prices depend on the price of oil that the producers have no control over, diminishing their rights even more to say, "Hey man, give us a fair price for this top notch product we´re supplying!"
4)Other middlemen costs of receiving, packaging, transporting and displaying the product add "value" to what the consumer will ultimately be purchasing.
5)Local, import-oriented markets provide a method of comparison of prices, or rather, competition that drives prices even further.
6)Federal and state level governing systems are currently promoting deregulation of tariffs that ensure disproportionate earnings for the people at the very start of the supply chain.

Alrighty, well that was the rant for today. (Abrupt transition) I mentioned heading to Patagonia next Sunday, but the operativo I volunteered for with the Red Cross won´t be until the 16th of October. The Road Life will have to wait a little bit longer and I will be forced to suffer through my own fruit and vegetable induced farts for a little while longer as well. A small price to pay for the style of life I get to enjoy currently. Since the 1970 Grateful Dead show at the Fillmore East is about over, so too are my rantings and ravings for this edition of Elvagabundonumerouno. If you made it all the way through this one, you´re a trooper, but then again, I really didn´t find that lost shaker of salt either. Take care folks.