A firsthand look at America's local good food: a direct report from San Francisco on the great search. Can Taiwan do it too?

Before going abroad, Rumensan repeatedly urged me to visit American farmers markets more if I had the chance. I am grateful for his reminder, which made me pay special attention to the fact that across the Pacific, the United States really has many things worth learning from. But honestly, Taiwan also has a great chance to make its way out there!

The above means a certification seal for "no pesticides." I had heard before that the organic certification system in the United States is quite well developed. What this seal immediately conveyed was - non-toxic. In other words, besides Taiwan's Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) and organic certification, there is also a category in between, letting consumers clearly choose what they want to eat.

After spending a day walking through Ferry Plaza & Building, I have a few thoughts I want to share with everyone. From the perspective of running a farmers market, they have essentially established a friendly channel that lets producers come to the city at a reasonable cost to display and sell their good products. From the sellers' angle, what they sell may not match general supermarkets in appearance or packaging, and their prices have no competitive advantage at all, yet consumers seem very willing to trade with them? The reason should not be hard to understand. First, producers will not be deceived under conditions of information asymmetry, and consumers likewise will not, under the same conditions, get products of unknown origin. Besides buying delicious food, they can also spend the same amount of money to buy peace of mind and trust. It is a win-win approach.

In addition, the shift in consumers' evaluation of products from price orientation to value orientation is also a very important key. From chatting with friends, I learned that at this stage, consumers with spending power have changed from their past habit of first evaluating price to first assessing whether a product's value meets their needs, and then coming back to see whether the price is reasonable. In other words, based on Kobi's own experience at the stall, Taiwan's current consumers are all used to asking the price first, then seeing whether the thing is "big, dumb, black and coarse." This kind of consumption behavior is actually very risky. The producer's thinking is actually very simple: "as long as it is worth it."

So if consumers view products from a price orientation, they are in fact invisibly pressing down production costs at the place of origin. When production costs become higher than the selling price, the place of origin has no choice but to "find a way" to lower production costs. And is not the use of chemical raw materials in food exactly what emerged under such circumstances?

Overall, if we can slowly begin to cultivate the habit of using value to measure price and let producers have reasonable profits, can we gradually build a friendly cycle and, through our own efforts, make what we eat safer? This question is worth everyone taking a little time to think about!

And what Kobi wants to do is establish a friendly channel, so that producers have a friendly channel to bring their good products closer to consumers, and consumers can directly receive the good things they want in their busy offices. I hope that the currently unhealthy cycle can take another form. Honestly, this is not simple. However, one time I had the chance to hear a line from a speech by Superintendent Huang Dafu of Hexin Hospital: "Maybe our strength is not great, but do not be discouraged." This line also seems like one Kobi often reminds himself of: "Be Passion and Never Give Up." I also hope more people can see the beauty of Taiwan's agriculture and support this beautiful "Formosa."