General Chat

:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Vera - :-D :-D :-D

Australian pineapple farming is small scale and in decline not helped by Oz govt decision to give various SEAsian countries increased market access. Oz pineapple exports are well under 1% of the world market and unlikely to be a consumer option in Europe.

I well remember taking our very young children to visit The Big Pineapple in Queensland in the early 80s and I believe it is no longer open. However, friends have told me that the huge pineapple statue is still there. :-D

JoyLouise, whatever is affecting Australian agriculture is obviously nationwide :-(

The Big Orange in Harvey and the Big Apple in Donnybrook have also been closed

The smaller varieties appear unaffected :-D :-D

There have been changes since we lived in Oz, Allan, just like everywhere else.

Rollo, we had our friends visiting from France this week and they found everything cheaper in our supermarkets compared to where they live (Haute Garonne). They live in a big farming area yet when I asked whether 'everything' meant apples, meat, milk etc., they answered yes, even though they have livestock, orchards etc surrounding them.

Surely the prices in supermarkets in large towns compare to ours in the UK?

Overall the cost of living in France is a lot lower than the UK mostly because housing and public transport are far less expensive. Food is more expensive for sure around 20%. This is mostly because French shoppers are very picky and demand a range of choice and quality beyond the wildest dreams of Waitrose. Budget stores such as Lidl and hard discount have made little impression. Brit foodies make regular trips to load up with nice nosh at the fabulous markets. There lotsof specialist food shops as well eg fromages, charcuterie, poissonerie. Yummy.

Why is this? the kids get nice nosh from the get go it is seen as a mother' s duty. Lots of French kids hate McDos. They all go home for lunch! There is a very strong tendency to buy French. They are quite keen on British food as well mainly meat and cheese.

Glad the French see something nice about Britain. (meat and cheese!)

French farmers don't employ armies of immigrants to pick and process fruit n crops instead they have all kinds of weird and wonderful machines each doing the work of 50 or more. Even grape picking!

Very slowly the patchwork ownership of land created by the Napoleonic code is changing allowing much more efficient farming. The Eure in late July looks more like the Canadian prairie than most people's idea of la Belle France. It is not widely realised that during the fighting Jun/July 1944 the French just got on with the harvest using German pow and liberated trucks when they got the chance.

French potatoes from Normandy are every bit as good as C.I.

Labor costs for French retailers are far higher than in the UK. There is no such thing as zero hour contracts, min wage rigidly applied, no wriggling out of heavy employer contribs to health and pensions. they do have short term contracts 6mths to 2 years but these Cdi workers get the same wages etc as everybody else.

The French 10% unemployment problem is much the same as in the UK. The reasons are older people who find it difficult to adapt, young people without good BAC results, dead and dying low tech light industry, banks even less supportive of new biz than in the UK. Retail as in the UK has taken quite a hit. It is really difficult to get a mortgage other than new build. nevertheless there has been a housing bubble.

Unlike the UK unemployment cannot be disguised through false self employment and zero hours. Life for the long term unemployed young or old is extremely tough because low wage work opportunities are few.