Something similar is happening with guar beans.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Guar Beans and Fracking

This is a bit alarmist. I was in Peru last March and as always, strolled through local markets. Quinoa is probably second to rice in popularity. Rice really is their staple, eaten sometimes three times a day. But we found quinoa in the supermarkets and small grocery stores at prices a bit lower than in the US.

The price of corn was also low compared to here, and they have many more varieties than I have ever seen anywhere else. Ditto potatoes. Meat and fish were quite a bit more expensive. This is in towns and cities. I don't know what happens in farming communities - I imagine many families raise their own food. BTW the main producer of quinoa imported into the US is Bolivia. I have no idea what prices are like there.

I don't recall seeing a single stalk of asparagus in a shop or restaurant. Perhaps it's all exported?

Cheryl

When you say low compared to here. . . how much was it compared to what rice costs there? compared to an average day's wages for a blue collar worker?

"I don't recall seeing a single stalk of asparagus in a shop or restaurant."

I think March is not the season for asparagus in Peru. Their spring would be our fall.

Jim

We found quinoa in the supermarkets and small grocery stores at prices a bit lower than in the US.

It should have been a lot lower than in the US. No wonder no one can afford it.

The AVERAGE per capita income in Peru is $10,000, but the people growing and harvesting quinoa are probably the poorest of the poor, and are likely not benefiting from the high prices paid for this grain in the US. These people, if they are lucky, may earn a quarter of that $10,000.

How about the worldwide spike in the price of corn because we use 40 per cent of our corn crop to make ethanol? That affects many more people than quinoa.

Quinoa is actually being grown in the U.S. and Canada, and if you live in a cool part of the country you can easily grow your own in a small patch of your garden or even in a large planter. I would assume people in Peru and Bolivia could also grow their own, if they were interested in doing so.

I live in Kansas where it's too hot to grow quinoa, so I grow amaranth instead, and the plants are similar to quinoa. You will find more information at the link below if you are interested in adding it to your garden.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Amaranth and Quinoa

"I would assume people in Peru and Bolivia could also grow their own, if they were interested in doing so." Why would you assume that? Do you also assume that everyone in the US can grow their own corn, for example?

I imagine that these people, who are too poor to buy the grain, are too poor to buy the seeds for their own use. They rarely have land to grow any foods on, they work in the fields on a plantation owned by someone else.

If they grow anything, they probably sell all they grow so they can buy other foods, that are probably becoming too expensive for them to afford, too.

South and Central America were not colonized like North America. The Spanish and Brazilian aristocracy took ALL the land from the indigenous peoples, many didn't even own their villages when the Spanish were done, and many still don't. The king and the pope gave huge land grants to the aristocrats in Spain and Portugal, land grants that are, in many cases, still held by the original families. The Spanish/Brazilian peasants who came to colonize, came as servants and were not able to own land.

The land is still held in vast plantations. Most peasants can only work for the large land owners.

When you hear about "threatened" land redistribution in these countries, this is why.

This post was edited by momj47 on Tue, Jan 22, 13 at 18:52

The Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto says that there is no clear title to most land in Peru, and indeed in most developing countries. This limits access to credit and immobilizes an enormous amount of wealth that is held by poor people. Lack of access to clear property law is, he says, the determining factor in persistent poverty, not culture.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hernando de Soto, The Mystery of Capital

In the small supermarket where I did some comparison shopping, I think quinoa in small bags was around 50 - 60c per lb. In big bags, it was around $10 for 25 kg. This was down a small side street in Cuzco. Chicken was a lot more expensive, over $1 a pound and not very fresh looking. I imagine cost of food would be lower in smaller towns and villages, but I don't know.

In a local food market where prepared foods, meat and fish were sold I saw plenty of local Peruvians sitting down to meals heavy in starch including quinoa. The cuts of meat for sale were big bones which I guessed were from cows but I have never seen anything similar so it's purely a guess. There were hooves and parts of the head, again I assume from a cow, for sale. There was nothing similar to the cuts we know - no roasts or chops. The dishes I could see for sale had broth with lots of starch - rice, potatoes, corn and yes, quinoa. In restaurants where working Peruvians ate, the menu had a lot of starch, very little animal protein and almost no fresh vegetables.

For Peruvians that I spoke to, quinoa is not only is a valuable source of protein, it represents their Inca heritage. They were very proud of their past and wanted to share their traditional foods and crafts with foreigners like us. I ate more than my fair share of ceviche (ONLY authentic in Peru where a unique variety of lime is grown), lots of different kinds of corn, quinoa in every form, cherimoyas and Peruvian gooseberries. I tasted cuy and alpaca, and Andean salt. I also watched women and men spin and knit and weave.

I don't know how much the people I met earned. I wouldn't ask them any more than I would you. During the time I was there I did not see a single beggar, or starving dog, or street people going through garbage. I did see plenty of poverty - small stature, bad teeth, prematurely aged women bowed from hard physical labor and too many children, young children working in the fields. But I thought they had dignity. I've seen far worse in Africa.

I was happy to find quinoa at my local Costco, but when I saw it costed around $3 a pound I thought of that supermarket in Cuzco.

Cheryl

Well, at least I can feel better about my asparagus, as I only buy that produced in the United States. I can get it from the "Asparagus Capitol" right next door, Oceana County. Most years it's about 75 cents a pound if I get it right out of the field. I freeze some for roasted asparagus, but seldom/never buy it out of season. The frozen stuff isn't great boiled or steamed but it's passable in cream of asparagus soup or roasted until slightly crunchy.

I guess I'm the only person on earth that doesn't really care for the tiny/pebbly texture of quinoa, and I don't care how healthy it is for me, I won't eat it if I don't like it. (shrug) I prefer wild rice or brown rice.

Now, you want to talk about those "slave labor" tomatoes that everyone wants year round? I only eat tomatoes in season and locally produced, and use home canned ones or go without otherwise. I'll pick them out of salads and off sandwiches, Styrofoam imposters that they are.

However, if we insist on having things cheaply and available year round, these things are what happens. I try to eat locally and in season because products are so much better if they aren't shipped halfway around the world.

Which brings me to the petroleum and pollution caused by shipping the stuff to us. (sigh)

The world's not perfect, but I do the best I can. If local produce costs a bit more I cut a corner somewhere else. I'd rather give up a restaurant meal or have a couple of meatless meals a week or reduce my consumption of soft drinks or turn the heat down, any number of things to pay for the locally produced food instead of the imported or Monsanto produced stuff.

Sometimes, though, there's no alternative. I still drink coffee, and am loathe to give it up. I do buy it from a local roaster, so maybe that helps a little. I pick up condiments like sriracha and Indonesian soy sauce and fish sauce, and they aren't made in the states. My mustard comes from Canada, but that's something else entirely.

I have not yet come to the point where I grow my own grain, but I'm considering starting with some corn to grind. However, many here and in the real world don't have that luxury either, so I have no real answer to the total problem. I don't have an answer to most of the world's problems, so I guess it comes as no surprise that I can't solve this either, I'm still working on Monsanto and GMO foods produced HERE!

Annie

I've purchased two brands of quinoa at my local Costco. Both brands were grown in Colorado.

I first ate quinoa in 1975. I was a flight attendant for Braniff International which was the largest carrier in South American at the time. I've been eating quinoa ever since. One of the FA's from Ecuador invited the crew to her home. We had quinoa, cuy (guinea pig) and chunos - little potato pancake like things with cheese. I was starving and it was all excellent. Did the cuy taste like chicken? :-) I don't remember. I'd had two beers - I just know it was good!

I used to bring bags of it home from my trips. Until 1977 when I asked The Wedge Coop in Minneapolis if they would stock it. My South American FA friend was able to find a supplier for them. No one heard of quinoa back then.

I'm with Annie1992. I tried quinoa and the flavor was ok but what got me were the little things that look like tails on them. Eeeek! I just can't get past them. I'll stick to brown rice, bulghur, couscous, etc.