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<pre>on 22/8/2000 6:48 pm, P Caird at caird@hitech.net.au wrote:

> Where I am in Bendigo, Victoria (36.75S) we are equivalent to central
> Spain

How's your Rioja?

> Our local council has just launched it's "New Mediterranean" agribusiness
> policy concentrating on, among other things, olives.

It's an interesting idea. Last year, when doing the publicity rounds for my
book, I tried to stir up some interest in the concept of a "gourmet economy"
- to counter the prevailing "wisdom" that a knowledge economy is the way to
go. My thesis: NZ is far too small to have a major impact in world markets,
but our combination of climate and soils allows us to grow very high quality
food products. We should therefore be aiming to produce world-class gourmet
products - a niche market that can deliver high returns and remain
relatively unaffected by swings in the general economy. Wine has shown how
it can be done, and olives will follow, but there's huge potential for
truffles and other fungi, high quality (organic and speciality) meats such
as herb-finished lamb, cheeses, fruit and nut crops, specialist timbers and
many others.

Giving this strategy a catchy label - the gourmet economy - helps
ludicrously under-informed city-types to appreciate what's happening out in
the real world...

Regards
--
Gareth Renowden, Limestone Hills, New Zealand
Words, olives and truffles
Office +64 (0)3 355 9552 Home +64 (0)3 314 9921
Mobile 025 790 070
"I knew she carried a snorkel in her handbag, but would she use it?"(Sir
Henry)
</pre>
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