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By Art Gorlick Disclosure of their venture came less than a week after more than 200 people attended a conference exploring the interlocking relationships of trade, globalization, food and hunger. "I don't think trade can solve hunger, but I don't think you can solve hunger without trade,'' said Skyway Luggage Company president H.L. "Skip'' Kotkins, chairman of the Washington Council on International Trade, which sponsored the conference, hosted by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington). Leon Hussey believes he's part of the spearhead of trade in food to China after an October 1998 trip there as a participant in a 65-member trade delegation of horticulturists. "When I was in China, I saw beautiful vegetables, but not much variety,'' he said. "In investigating, I found out that they don't have extension services the way we have so they don't have much science going on with scientists and researchers exchanging information with farmers. We have a unique system here and it works very well.'' A lack of farm implements, even lawn mowers, seemed to Hussey to divert efforts from production of food and horticultural products. But in Shanghai, Beijing and other Chinese cities, Hussey said he saw a strong desire for anything perceived as American - including fish and chips. "I didn't see much hunger there, but I think we wanted to improve their diet and share information and technology and share goods and make some money on it,'' Hussey allowed. "They have a system that is very different from ours and they don't honor farmers as we do, so the farmers don't get very good information.'' When Hussey returned from China, his nuclear physicist partner agreed to help him set up a company to ship food to China. That partner, and Hussey's other Chinese-born friend met and "they agreed to handle the Chinese end of the business if I handled the U.S. end,'' Hussey said. Hussey contacted the Washington State University Agricultural Extension Service and state officials involved in exporting of Washington agricultural products. "Because China doesn't do the science necessary for developing potatoes, they are using some of the same potatoes they have had for almost 200 years,'' he said. "Some of the U.S. fast food companies set up over in Beijing, but they are having trouble getting the potatoes they need.'' Inadequate food processing facilities and transportation issues contribute to problems of delivering products to Chinese consumers, he said. "We will take seed potatoes from the United States and have the Chinese raise them - and they can raise a profitable potato there that works for chips and fries - and have them develop a market to grow their own food potatoes to become their own food market,'' Hussey said. Similar markets have developed in Japan, Korea and the Philippines, he said. "China is about 10- to 12-years behind them,'' he said. For the full story subscribe to Marine Digest.
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