Luke Thompson
Vietnam reaps a massive crop of unique fruits each year but lacks the technology to take full advantage of this resource. Without the necessary means of preservation and cultivation, grasping the economic advantages of exporting this rare commodity is impossible. While annual production of fruit can reach 7-8 million tons, only 300,000 tons are fit for export.
Because indigenous fruits are cultivated with traditional methods of production and ripening, they are unfit to be exported to other countries with strict laws regarding food importation. Although several locations were designated for fruit planting ten years ago, the Vietnamese government has yet to provide any substantial financial support for farmers who want to globalize their fruit businesses.
A delicate balance must be found between the need for economic growth and the preservation of traditional methods of living. As cultures integrate into the global market place, the concept of "traditional" means of production is often lost or reserved for tourist attractions. But do these traditional practices really have more inherent value because they have been utilized longer? Whatever is considered "traditional" by today's standards was at some point in the past considered modern ingenuity.
While self-sustaining production practices that exclusively service one society are not relevant in a globalized marketplace, should they be closeted in a museum and labeled "irrelevant?" I believe that each case is unique and complex its own right. But no matter how many wholistic studies are done by outsiders, it is ultimately the choice of the society whether or not to assimilate into world-wide trade standards.
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