The One-Straw Revolution - Multiworld India

ten to twenty times higher than seasonal mandarins. Instead of the usualprice of 10 to 15 cents per pound, outrageous prices of $.80, $1.00, even$1.75 to the pound were paid. And so, if you invest several thousanddollars to install the equipment, buy the necessary fuel, and work theextra hours, you can realize a profit.Farming out of season is becoming more and more popular all thetime. To have mandarin oranges just one month earlier, the people in thecity seem happy enough to pay for the farmer's extra investment in laborand equipment. But if you ask how important it is for human beings tohave this fruit a month earlier, the truth is that it is not important at all,and money is not the only price paid for such indulgence.Furthermore, a coloring agent, not used a few years ago, is nowbeing used. With this chemical, the fruit becomes fully colored one weekearlier. Depending on whether the fruit is sold a week before or after the10 th of October, the price either doubles or falls by half, so the farmerapplies color-accelerating chemicals, and after the harvest places the fruitin a ripening room for gas treatment.But when the fruit is shipped out early, it is not sweet enough, and soartificial sweeteners are used. It is generally thought that chemicalsweeteners have been prohibited, but the artificial sweetener sprayed oncitrus trees has not been specifically outlawed. The question is whetheror not it falls into the category of "agricultural chemicals." In any case,almost everybody is using it.The fruit is then taken to the co-op fruit-sorting center. In order toseparate the fruit into large and small sizes, each one is sent rollingseveral hundred yards down a long conveyor. Bruising is common. Thelarger the sorting center, the longer the fruit is bounced and tumbledabout. After a water washing86