Fantastic explanation about Moldova itself, plus it also gives me clues to other questions I've always had, like what in the world happened to Russia? Why don't I ever see large, modern farm equipment in the fields? Oh, my international bond mutual funds work differently ...
You probably can't answer how my host family managed to get tho…
Fantastic explanation about Moldova itself, plus it also gives me clues to other questions I've always had, like what in the world happened to Russia? Why don't I ever see large, modern farm equipment in the fields? Oh, my international bond mutual funds work differently ...
You probably can't answer how my host family managed to get those lovely apple trees on one of their three, widely spaced allotments. 😉 But the question of why all those families who laboriously grow tomatoes in their market gardens can't get together and 1) combine transportation and sales; and 2) resurrect the old tomato sauce factory—might be in your wheelhouse. M
My partial answer to the tomato question so far is that 1) no one trusts each other (which I take to mean that contract law is not up to the task of forming this type of cooperative business) and 2) The Soviets had things like tomato sauce running on lateral dependencies between countries. Moldova had the tomatoes but not the factories for making the glass jars, the lids, the labels etc. (This clue came from a tour guide in Armenia.)
Firstly, I completely agree on your partial answers. Cooperatives here smack of "collective farms" and contract law is no where up to snuff to handle disputes. Even if it was, I don't think you'd see that many people buy a tractor together and those that did are most likely to operate on a handshake anyhow.
A second issue with the tomato problem is even more disheartening sadly. Babushka can sell on the side of the road all she likes - it's not legal, but no one cares. But small holders can't get into supermarkets or other shops easily. The amount of paperwork required is enormous and out of reach for small farmers. A collective group could do this in theory but we fall back on all the other problems mentioned above.
As to canning, I think the story is basically what you said plus MASSIVE SCALE!!! Near my house in the village there is an old cannery. The complex is so large as to be hard to describe. The place of course was sold off for parts when it went out of business so all that's left is a building. These lateral relationships you mentioned were premised on massive scale and specialization. I don't think anyone could bring them back even with millions and millions of dollars.
Now, none of that means small factories couldn't exist. I have a friend of mine working on this idea right now and I'm keeping tabs on the project. I think there is ample room for experimentation and innovation in this area :)
My impression of the cannery in my village was that it was fairly small (a ruin surrounded by walls up on the river bluff, so I didn't get much of a sense of it.) There's probably all sorts of space and equipment scattered around the country. Keep us posted.
Fantastic explanation about Moldova itself, plus it also gives me clues to other questions I've always had, like what in the world happened to Russia? Why don't I ever see large, modern farm equipment in the fields? Oh, my international bond mutual funds work differently ...
You probably can't answer how my host family managed to get those lovely apple trees on one of their three, widely spaced allotments. 😉 But the question of why all those families who laboriously grow tomatoes in their market gardens can't get together and 1) combine transportation and sales; and 2) resurrect the old tomato sauce factory—might be in your wheelhouse. M
My partial answer to the tomato question so far is that 1) no one trusts each other (which I take to mean that contract law is not up to the task of forming this type of cooperative business) and 2) The Soviets had things like tomato sauce running on lateral dependencies between countries. Moldova had the tomatoes but not the factories for making the glass jars, the lids, the labels etc. (This clue came from a tour guide in Armenia.)
Hey Connie - thanks for the comments!
Firstly, I completely agree on your partial answers. Cooperatives here smack of "collective farms" and contract law is no where up to snuff to handle disputes. Even if it was, I don't think you'd see that many people buy a tractor together and those that did are most likely to operate on a handshake anyhow.
A second issue with the tomato problem is even more disheartening sadly. Babushka can sell on the side of the road all she likes - it's not legal, but no one cares. But small holders can't get into supermarkets or other shops easily. The amount of paperwork required is enormous and out of reach for small farmers. A collective group could do this in theory but we fall back on all the other problems mentioned above.
As to canning, I think the story is basically what you said plus MASSIVE SCALE!!! Near my house in the village there is an old cannery. The complex is so large as to be hard to describe. The place of course was sold off for parts when it went out of business so all that's left is a building. These lateral relationships you mentioned were premised on massive scale and specialization. I don't think anyone could bring them back even with millions and millions of dollars.
Now, none of that means small factories couldn't exist. I have a friend of mine working on this idea right now and I'm keeping tabs on the project. I think there is ample room for experimentation and innovation in this area :)
My impression of the cannery in my village was that it was fairly small (a ruin surrounded by walls up on the river bluff, so I didn't get much of a sense of it.) There's probably all sorts of space and equipment scattered around the country. Keep us posted.
Will do!!