The power of the Internet
In the midst of a national crisis, Greek farmers are doing something interesting and revolutionary for that country. It isn't revolutionary in the United States (shopping online for food). But it creates a lot of interesting scenarios for a struggling country, or a ray of hope. Normally, Greek farmers sell to middle men whom are in it to sell to super markets in the country of Greece. The middle men often mark up what they buy from rural farmers, so in the end Super markets there end up marking up prices even more to turn a profit. Due to the food scarcity, and squeeze all Greek citizens are feeling, farmers are choosing to bypass the middle men.
For example, potatoes that middle men obtain for like 1 Euro per pound from farmers are sold to super markets for like 3 Euro's per pound. The Super markets in turn mark up the price to 5 or 6 Euro's per pound. What farmers have done is post prices on the internet by selling their potatoes for 2 Euro's per pound and are making more money while not having to deal with middle men. As a result, Super Markets in Greece have lowered their price for potatoes down to 3 or 4 Euro's per pound just to compete, but it is clear they can't. Do I feel sorry for those that work in Super markets or were the middle men for farmers in Greece? Yes, but in a way Greece needs to move back to basics, instead of having a structure where everyone is entitled a cut where it is passed onto the consumer. Such a structure isn't sustainable, so a return to a local level is keeping Greece alive (figuratively and literally) thanks to the internet.
= new reply since forum marked as read
