Posts Tagged ‘Monopolies’
Palmettovore: Demand Already Exists, But Let’s Promote Anyway
The Department of Agriculture paid $50,000 to the advertising agency Chernoff Newman for these actors to dress as fruits and vegatables in promotion of South Carolina agriculture.
If, as SC Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weather asserts, demand for South Carolina-grown produce is on the rise, then one has to question why South Carolina is putting scarce tax dollars into a program that promotes locally grown products.
Last month, the state agriculture department rolled out its “Palmettovore” campaign, the latest phase of its Certified SC Grown push. According to Weathers, a Palmettovore is a person who attempts to eat only farm products grown and processed in South Carolina. It’s supposedly healthier, better for the state’s economy and better for the environment, according to the campaign’s specious logic.
But beyond that, a least one publication is reporting that the Palmettovore campaign came about as a response to the increased demand for local produce and products.
“The rage of eating and buying local has sparked a new campaign by the state called Palmettovore,” according to The Myrtle Beach Sun News.
If that’s true, then demand for locally grown products was already in place before the state spent tens of thousands of tax dollars on the Palmettovore effort. In other words, consumers were already aware of the high quality of SC-grown products, meaning Palmettovore is redundant and wasteful.
And, of course, that doesn’t even address the question of whether it’s the purpose of government to spend tax dollars to promote a specific industry.
