Bulgaria's Ministry of Agriculture has proposed a way to aid local vegetable growers. "Fresh" vegetables, which are grown in Bulgaria, are to be offered in the hypermarkets no later than 5-6 hours after they have been picked up, the suggestion goes. It means that local farms should be located no further than 100-150 km from the markets.
True, that is not a novel practice as it has already been developed in France.
Still, in the words of the chair of the Bulgarian Association of Agricultural Producers, Hristo Tzvetanov, the idea is "the latest piece of stupidity" as in October there is no way "fresh" vegetables are delivered.
The question is why agricultural producers don't support an idea that looks so good at first glance?
We used to ask for stimuli for the locally grown food, and now we've got a good stimuli, didn't we - you grow, you sell?
A sure market for regular agricultural production is everybody's dream, especially for those who know what it means to be fully dependent on weather conditions.
Europe can help us only if, beforehand, we help ourselves.