889235-nick-xenophon-I’m becoming a big fan of Adelaide’s Independent senator Nick Xenophon. He’s one of those rare politicians who is thoughtful and deliberate and votes not along party lines but for his convictions. He’s staunchly anti-gambling, an unpopular position in a nation that’s been overrun by ‘pokies’ and multi-million dollar lotteries. I’m with him 100% on that stance, not for any moralistic reasons, but because gambling is, at its very root, a tax on the poor*.

But that’s not what I came to tell you about. Came to talk about China.

Xenophon made the front page of The World’s Worst Newspaper™ last week when he launched a campaign on food security. He’s worried about how much of Australia’s food is imported and that much of it is deceptively labeled as “Made in Australia”. He cited China in particular, pointing out that we already import 7% of our food from the Asian superpower, who also happens to be Australia’s largest merchandise export market. As he told the ‘newspaper‘, “If we become reliant on one country (China) that can be unhealthy. If we don’t keep our primary production up then there is a vulnerability in having to rely on another country for supply, whether there is a supply chain problem or a political dispute”.

I’ve got no real problem with China in general. They’re clearly the up and coming super power, poised to take over from a beleaguered America. And why not? The West has had its shot for the last couple of centuries. We’ve not done a bang up job of it. Maybe we’ll be better off with our Chinese overloads. Sure, they’re not that into human rights but they don’t seem as disposed to spreading their particular political philosophy than were their American and British predecessors. In fact, China just seems perfectly content just spreading cheap computers, shoes and plastic toys.

The latter is what I’m unhappy about. I’m a bit bothered by the fact that so much of what I buy comes from China. It isn’t environmentally sound, there are major issues with safety and if you want a cautionary tale of what happens when you ship all your manufacturing to China, look at the American economy.**

china-militaryI understand why most manufacturing has shifted to China. I don’t like it, but I understand. I don’t want to pay twice as much for my iPod either. But why food? Australia produces enough food to feed Australia. Hell, we export food – $11.5 billion dollars worth in 2009. Why on earth do we need to import Chinese garlic, onions, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, oranges, cashew nuts, jams and juice. We can grow all of these things in Australia.

It’s a rhetorical question. I know the answer. Because it’s cheaper to grow an orange in China than it is to grow an orange in Australia. Just like it’s cheaper to grow an iPhone in China than it would be in Australia. Without pesky food standards and unions and minimum wages, China can produce anything Australia can at a fraction of the price. And Woolies likes cheap food and higher profit margins.

But you know what? I don’t want Chinese oranges. For environmental reasons, for food safety reasons and just because I want my orange, if it doesn’t come from my tree, at least to come from my country. I want to make sure that if the Chinese decide they don’t like us anymore that I can still have an orange with my breakfast. As Xenophon said, “Now imagine that Australia depended on China for 50 or 60 per cent of our food. Protecting Australia’s food security is as important as our national security.”

Damn straight, Senator.

So, as an experiment, I’m not buying anything from China for the month of May. In fact, I’m going to do my damndest not to buy anything that wasn’t grown or made in Australia for the month of May. And a week in, let me tell you, that isn’t easy. If I keep up this experiment, I won’t be buying any consumer electric goods. And Boy Z and Not Max will have to make due with the toys they’ve got***. And my wardrobe will remain much the same that it was in April. Because we don’t make clothes, toys or iPods in Australia. Even food shopping this week was a challenge. It took me twice as long and cost me about 10% more. But I did manage not to buy any Chinese food and the only foreign grown food that I bought were frozen mixed berries. I got a bit of a bollocking for buying the crappy Australian feta rather than the imported Greek, but it’s the principle of the thing and if I have to struggle through bland feta to insure my country’s food security, then buy god I’m willing to make that sacrifice. And apparently Dr. O’C will have to as well.

australian-made-logo(1)And I discovered that Xenophon was right. Food labeling is deceptive. Food manufacturers love to slap the “Made in Australia” logo on their product and then, in the fine print:

“Packaged in Australia with local and imported ingredients.”

Classy.

I’m not stupid. I know that global free trade is a reality and it’s not going anywhere. I don’t even know that it should. But when it comes to food, I think my adopted country should be self-supporting and I’m going to do my small part to see that it is.

———————————–

*And the not so bright.

** If my American readers care to argue with me then 1) go to the Rust Belt and have a look around and 2) do a bit of research about how you owe that several trillion dollars to.

***Actually, Boy Z triggered this whole exercise. His new favourite line of conversation involves ‘where’ things come from. I’m pretty sure he wants to be reminded who gave him a certain toy or when we got his latest football. But I’m a pedant or, depending on who you ask, a bit of a dick. So I answer the question literally and I started to become distressed about how many times the answer was ‘China’.

———————————–

Image credits:

Xenophon

China

Australian Made

If you like “Chinese Translation” the rest of M Ward’s “Post War” won’t be a disappointment. Buy it from M. Ward - Post-War.

 
icon for podpress  M Ward "Chinese Translation" [3:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Popularity: 14% [?]