A Beggar's Table

All that the state stole from the peasants during the buy up of wheat and sunflower, and what it will steal on sugar-beet and maize, the peasants will try to make up at the markets, say experienced ``dealers'' in potatoes, onions, beans... This is a more precise explanation of why the prices at the green market have rocketed this year, than the state's explanation that it was a bad year, and that the production of pesticides has dropped off drastically, as has the offer of vegetables. ``The peasants' revenge,'' is of course being acerbated by the enormously high price of fuel, making the transport and distribution of normally ``cheap produce'' expensive.

The day that one Deutsche Mark sold for 10,000 dinars, prices at the city green markets, were as follows: potatoes sold for 50 pfennigs/kilo, onions were less than 70 pfennigs/kilo, beans around 90 pfennigs/kilo, cabbage and kale were 20 pfennigs/kilo, paprika was 40 pfennigs/kilo, cheese sold for 1.5 DM/kilo, chicken meat was 2.7 DM/kilo, pork was 2.65 DM/kilo, beef was 4.5 DM/kilo, milk stood at 16 pfennigs/liter, while ten eggs cost 1.5 DM. A visit to the market required an average monthly pension or half an average salary. Last year, the average Yugoslav pensioner could buy the equivalent of 300 kilos of potatoes for his monthly pension. This year, with the much publicized ``October cheque which is ten times higher than September's,'' the average pensioner can buy 30 kilos of potatoes. Such a rapid drop in buying power leads to the question: can a person of average constitution decrease his/her consumption of food by ten times in one year?

Statistics say that in normal times, the average Serb annually consumes around: 85 kilos of bread and rolls etc., 15--20 kilos of pork, 6.5 kilos of beef, around 12.5 kilos of poultry, over 9 liters of cooking oil, 90--100 liters of milk, more than 160 eggs, over 30 kilos of potatoes, 5.5 kilos of beans, around 70 kilos of vegetables, some 30 kilos of fresh fruit, and about 16 kilos of sugar. Compared to European standards (and especially for French ones) it sounds incredible that the average Serb drinks six liters of both brandy and wine annually. Statistics must be treated with caution, but even a cursory glance through the figures given above leads to the conclusion that our nutrition is average in quantity, but according to world standards--poor, if one considers the nutritional value.

It is impossible to determine what changes have taken place with regard to the nutritional quality of the food we are eating this year, and that which we consumed last year. It is often mentioned that 30% of the population is starving, and this is probably true (the percentage is probably higher), but it can't be used to claim that the production of foodstuffs has dropped by 30%. If 20% of the basic foodstuff production is being sent to Bosnia and the Krajina (even though something comes here), then theoretically speaking, the figures are correct, with a production drop of about 10%. Along with a bad economic policy, the disintegration of the system of distribution, the annulling of the dinar as a means of payment (the dinar's value changes during the day), the shortage of fuel for the transport of food from the regions producing it to the markets, and the pauperizing of the consumers--the drop in production will take on catastrophic proportions. It seems however, that this drop has not taken place yet.

Serbia continues to survive thanks to the fact that until 1991, it had been a big producer of basic agricultural products, and those foodstuffs which are not exported (foodstuffs accounted for 12% of Serbia's exports, and of this figure 4% were vegetables).

The annual production of potatoes in Serbia in the last 20 years has varied between 700,000 to one million tons per year. If the lower figure is achieved this year, there should be enough, theoretically speaking. During the Seventies Serbia annually produced around 100,000 tons of beans. In the meantime, however, the population started eating other things, so that bean production dropped to around 50,000 tons/year in the Eighties. There is no information if the peasants have realized that there is a trend towards a greater consumption of beans, and if there will be sufficient quantities to meet the demand.

The situation with onions is similar. Onion production peaked in the early Eighties with 200,000 tons/year, but dropped in the last few years to 150,000 tons/year.

1980 saw a record production of cabbage and kale at 400,000 tons. In the last few years production has stood at around 300,000 tons, so that experts forecast that this will be the amount produced this year.

Paprika and tomato harvests were affected by the drought this year. Serbia used to produce about 150,000 tons of paprika and around 200,000 tons of tomatoes. Many believe that this year's production will be lower by 30%.

Meat production and the meat market here have always been a great mystery to experts, statisticians, farmers and producers. Meat (and its marketing) has always been directly dependent on economic policy and a complex method of price parity. Apart from all these indicators, those involved in the cattle/meat branch still stick to the basic indicator--asking themselves: are the farmers slaughtering? (If the farmers are slaughtering, the price of feed is too high, or the price of meat is good. If they are not slaughtering, the opposite holds true, or there is some other reason). In principle, meat production in Serbia for the past ten years has been stable with an annual production of 600,000 tons (up to 1991, according to the Serbian Statistical Office). Because of the ban on meat exports to the European Community, production dropped to around 450,000 tons last year. How many pigs and cattle are now being fattened and what number will be slaughtered, remains unclear. Currently the price of pigs in Vojvodina is 2 DM/kilo, while that of cattle is a little higher. The problem lies in the fact that the people don't have any money.