INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
CONTRIBUTORS
UGLY TRUTH The saddest part about the whole postharvest solution that Lievens preached is that the farmers know it is true . The industry hears but refuses to listen . Even the success stories of farmers that have seen their profits massively increased because they choose to farm alongside Mother Nature ’ s own principles are subdued , silenced or even banned . The ‘ mafia ’ that control the fruit refrigeration , cooling , packaging and transportation industry know Lievens ’ methodology is right , but the industry could ( will ) lose millions in revenues every year if the right systems are put in place .
It is an ugly truth that farmers are being short-changed by giants at the top that know how to make money but know little about farming . Supporting and offering the incorrect technologies , which is what they are doing - and there is no doubt about it . A handful of people have become rich and grow richer while fruit quality is poor , food waste and loss grows , and farmers make little money . The numbers in this ‘ game ’ are astronomical , with food waste due to fruit going off before it reaches retail reaching trillions of dollars each year , and the profits of the companies and individuals at the top are into billions of dollars . This must stop .
" Fools " said I , " You do not know Silence like a cancer grows Hear my words that I might teach you Take my arms that I might reach you " But my words like silent raindrops fell And echoed in the wells of silence
THE SILLY DO NOT KNOW THEY ARE Despite all this Lievens beat his drum and one by solitary one farmers are waking up to his message of truth , and heads are popping out of the sand . Sadly , the cancer of using the incorrect post-harvest technologies and methodologies spreads . Even the largest farms on the planet are getting it wrong and it all starts at the point the fruit is cut from the vine , branch , or stem . They do not know it because they refuse to listen .
Lievens once told me “ When you are dead you do not know it . Being stupid is the same .” I can ’ t help but say this is true of many farmers today . His words and message are very much silent raindrops falling and echoing in the Sound of a Silence self-made by many farmers and supported by the rest of the industry . Rain needs to fall onto fertile soil , not into empty , bottomless pits . But until the message is fully understood , until farmers can see how they have fallen for lies and have been kept in a trap for the last century or more nothing will change . They will continue to try and fill a bottomless pit to the point of overflow .
And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming
CHANGE IS NEEDED The fruit industry needs to change , it needs to wake up and go back to farming basics . I am a farmer , I studied agriculture before I started a successful marketing career . I am still passionate about farming
and my heart bleeds as it sees how the giants of industry have become gods in a sector where the only god needs to be Mother Nature . Farmers all over the world should be ashamed as they seek socalled smarter and better ways to produce more fruit when all they need to do is understand what they do and how it has always worked and will remain so .
Farmers have forgotten the basics of what they do because they are blinded by the ‘ neon god ’ of technology being told , lied to , that they can beat Mother Nature and that technology will give them better fruit and make them more money . It would be true if it were the right technology . It is a sad and sorry state .
And the sign said , " The words of the prophets Are written on the subway walls And tenement halls And whispered in the sounds of silence "
WRECKING 95 % OF THE WORK The writing is on the wall for us all if farmers do not wake up to the Sound of Silence in post-harvest thinking . Postharvest may only be 5 % of the entire farming cycle , 95 % of effort goes into growing the fruit . So why then go and wreck the 95 % of blood , sweat and tears because the incorrect post-harvest solutions are implemented ?
Lievens was not a mad Belgian with a beard . He knew post-harvest perhaps better than anyone . He goes against the grain of the majority , only because they know they will lose millions and because Lievens is right . It will only take one smart investor with a small amount of capital to realise that there is a global change required here that will not only make a healthy financial return but improve the lives of billions the world over through better quality , more affordable fresh produce . Will that smart investor be you ? Will you listen to the Sound of Silence and make the noise the world needs to hear ?” CLA
For almost 30 years Matthew Newnham has helped companies sell , market themselves and be heard above the noise . With an exceptional combination of old school marketing know-how and modern digital marketing expertise , Matt Newnham Communication is the go-to guy if you need your message seen and heard by those who need to see and hear it .
With old school , tried , tested and proven marketing expertise Newnham has written copy for hundreds of websites , thousands of blogs and articles .
COLD LINK AFRICA • July / August 2023 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za 31