There’s a discussion over at Afghan Warrior about what to do with the poppy crops in Afghanistan. One commenter points out that wheat or something would earn per hectare US$222, while the poppies earn the farmer per hectare US$12,700. So then this commenter says that to get the farmer to give up all that extra cash the west (the consumers of the poppies) would have to give the farmer money to make up the difference.

Now, I have a suggestion, but it’s so stupid I’m too embarrassed to leave it over there (this is why I have my own blog!): What about Saffron?

It’s pretty (like poppies) it grows in mountains (like Afghan poppies), it sells for at least $1,000 a pound (how much is opium a pound?), and all you do is pick the stamens off the flower, unlike poppies which need to be processed.

I dunno, I think it fixes a lot of problems. A glut in the saffron market would drive down prices here (thank god, I can actually make my saffron rice dishes with saffron), raise the opium prices for addicts, and it would be a hell of a lot more lucrative than wheat…

All the logical refutations to my brilliantly ridiculous idea welcome in the comments.

Date: Mar 18th, 2005 · Comments RSS · Tags: Food