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NikolaiFyodorov  ·  4009 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why Your Supermarket Only Sells 5 Kinds of Apples

> The small farmers are slowly being forced out and made to deal with great losses as the larger conglomerate grocers (namely woolworth's, coles and IGA) continue to demand more and more perfection and efficiency out of a natural product that is of course subject to, temperature, sun condition, soil conditions, unwanted pests, etc. that are often impossible to control, or very very expensive.

Add to that labour costs, rising fuel prices, the soaring value of the Australian dollar and the fact that apples can be grown overseas and sold at rates below production costs here, and the outlook for small farmers looks pretty grim.