Patriotism's tomato test

Tomatoes are great. They are healthy. They taste good.

So nutritionists rate them highly, and keep selling to us a tomato-rich diet.

And truth is, we do love them, just as much.

But would you buy 50 kilograms of them at one time?

This is not a hypothetical question to test your passion for tomatoes. It is an order from the Baiyun district of Guiyang city, Guizhou province. And a compulsory quota for everyone working in the local Party and government offices.

Do not blame anyone yet. The reason cannot be more compelling, and irresistible - to help out local farmers who have trouble finding a market.

Yes. We all share the belief that farmers in this country constitute a vulnerable group who deserve special attention from the government. Often times, we heap blames upon the authorities for failing to do that.

And the Baiyun district came up with that idea wanting to help.

For that we are full of admiration. The tomato farmers there should congratulate themselves for having such considerate local leaders.

But their decision is a fresh proof that good intentions can go awry and lead to awkward endings, and that too much is as bad as too little.

We understand their eagerness to help the tomato growers. Which is totally adorable. But there is no ground, moral or legal, for shifting the burden to the public servants.

The story effortlessly drew us back to the winter of 1989, when the city of Beijing was struck by a huge oversupply of Chinese cabbages.

Chinese cabbages used to be the most important vegetable available in winter for the northern city decades back. Every winter before temperatures got really low, locals would buy huge stocks for the coldest days when no fresh vegetables were available.

Yet that winter, there were simply too much. So we have the term "patriotic cabbages" in our collective memory. It is rather far-fetched to associate buying and eating cabbages with loving the country. Still it worked.

Public institutions and their employees were mobilized to buy and store more Chinese cabbages. Ordinary citizens received a similar call. Local media were tirelessly touting the nutritious values of Chinese cabbages, and recommending ways to cook them.

Thanks to the sympathetic response of the common Beijingers, the oversupply was digested without compulsory quotas.

And that was a time when market economy was yet to enter the official Chinese lexicon. Which is why we find the Baiyun district's approach even more problematic.

We are fully in favor of government authorities finding ways to reduce farmers' financial burdens. But there is no excuse for transferring them to an innocent third party.

Not to mention that this may send to the vegetable farmers a wrong signal - the government will take care of everything when they stumble in the marketplace.

That way, there is no guarantee the local public servants are not asked to buy stockpiles of cucumbers some other time.

(China Daily 09/03/2008 page8)