1983_09 Insight September 1983

              " Community
Raisin officials launch ad campaign
An industry bands together
_ September 28, 1983       Insight
By Judy 8. Paredes
Insight Reporter
Tbe CaUfornia raisin industry, in an attempt to boost domestic sales, has launched a
$15 million national advertising campaign this
month. Tbe industry, which provides 100 percent of the nation's raisins, is hoping to offset its
reliance on foreign export sales and eliminate
some of the raisin surplus that appears to be
developing in this growing season, according to
raisin officials.
(Despite the fact that some raisins have
carmeUzed because of ho* weather, a surplus is
"We want tbe consumer to get the message
that we're not trying to improve the quantity of
life, but that we're adding to the quality of life,"
said Net.
The ads tell the consumer that by adding "a
generous handful" of nisins to anything you're
preparing in the kitchen you also add "a
touch of magic."
And anything is right, the ads say. The consumer Is exhorted to toss tbem into salads, orve
peanut butter sandwich, into the Thanksgiving
turkey and anywhere else. "We want people to
do their thing with raisins," said Nef
Research for the campaign began In 1969; a
H
It's the law of the jungle out there and if
we can get people to eat raisins instead
of something else, we're going  to do it.* *
stiU expected;  100,000 tons of raisins are being
carried over from last year's raisin crop.)
"It's the law of the jungle out there and if
we can get people to eat raisins instead of
something else, we're going to do it," said Clyde
Nef. manager of the California Raisin Advis
ory Hoard. Nef is also in charge of the promot
ional   campaign.
Kalem Barserian, general manager of the
Raisin Bargaining Association, said, "We're going to keep hitting away at that housewife who
doesn't necessarily purchase raisins."
Out of the $15 million, $10.5 milUon will be
directed into televjsiqn, ads and women's
magazines, $1.5 million into other - printed
media, $1 miUion into research and administration costs and $2 miUion into export promotion.
The campaign is funded from assessments
charged to growers and packers by the administration. For every ton of raisins they handle, each grower and packer pays $32.50, making a total of $65 per ton the administration '
receives.
Ume some people refer to as tbe "good ol' days"
when U.S.-produced raisins were selling for 3 to
10 cents more per pound overseas than foreign-
produced raisins.
"Tbe increased price was justified because
we sold a cleaner, higher-quality fruit," said
Nef.
Tbe research, entitled the Swanson Study,
was conducted through CaUfornia State University, Fresno, but plans to get the campaign
underway were continually put on hold when
the industry experienced disaster in 1976,1978
and 1982, when it rained during the raisin-
drying season.
Given tbe law of supply and demand, "the'
shortage necessitated an increased price," said
Nef, "and in agriculture the price never goes
back."
Greece's entry in January 1981 into the
European Economic Community — better
known as the Common Market — worsened the
industry's situation. "We could see we had trouble coming." said Nef. "Within three to four
months we began to see quoted prices being cut,
particularly by Greece, and by the fall their
prices were 50 percent of ours."
Greek raisin growers are able to offer their
raisins at such a low price because their industry is guaranteed a minimum price for their
fruit by their government. In other words,
they're subsidized.
In order to remain competitive in overseas
markets, the California industry, which exports
30 percent of its product, cut its foreign prices,
causing an annual loss of $20 million in income.
"We can compete with anyone on a head-on
basis because we have efficiency and
economies of scale on our side," said Nef, "but
we can't do it against anyone with governmental assistance, Uke Greece."
This has led the industry, over the last
several years, to begin lobbying for governmental subsidies and for legislation for fair trade
practices internationally. Tbe subsidies are
designed to offset some of the losses incurred by
the growers;' fair trade practices would make
the growers more competitive by equalizing
tariffs and taxes.
Although tbe industry theoretically does not
Uke the idea of U.S. government subsidies, they
feel they are necessary now. Nef said, "We
don't want subsidies because we don't feel they
work and too much bureaucracy gets involved.
However, in tbe interim, while fair trade practices are being worked out, we need help."
Barserian said, "You have to realize
there's a welfare state in Europe and if we (the
industry) have to fight, the government should
get in and help."
Although the international conflicts with
members of the EEC and bad weather patterns
have created many problems, the wine industry
has also added to the overall situation.
In the early 70s, grape-bearing acreage was
increased to meet an increased demand for *
wine. Between 1972 and 1982,190,000 acres were
added to the existing 440,000. But when the de-
Trrand for wine dropped, several years later,
those grapes, were made a part of the raisin
crop, according to Nef.
Despite two years of bad weather there will Now the industry may be faced with a
still be an abundance of raisins this year.
surplus this year, so the industry has wiped the
dust off of the long-planned advertising campaign.
The industry had hoped they could
apopropriate money from the Commodity
Credit Corporation to add to the advertising
project, but all hopes were dashed when it was
announced last month that the money was committed to a Department of Agriculture program
designed to help underdeveloped countries borrow money in order to buy American commodities.
The industry has to be content with an
advertising campaign on the national level.
"We'U just have to take our lumps pricewise,"
said Nef.
"AU we can really rely on is consistency of
price, quality and shelf presence, and a good ad
campaign," said Barserian-
It looks like the:ad campaign is goins,to
have to do some real magic for the industry*
PIK causing problems for valley farmers
By Kurt Stephan
Insight Reporter
While farmers across the'country are
pocketing money from sales of crops given to
them by the government, farm-related industries in Fresno and elsewhere are feeling
the pinch of the Reagan administrations'
payment-in-kind (PIK) program.
The program, which uses surplus
agricultural goods instead of cash to pay
Hog's western region, which covers CaUfornia
and Arizona.    I
"POC is not supporting us," says Weber,
who feels most other implement dealers have
been hurt by the program as weU. He says
1983 has been tough for most agricultural support firms, but is optimistic that as surpluses
start to dwindle, business will pick up.
Basically, the PIK program rewards
farmers for not planting crops. PIK participants  then  receive  from  government
a
Forty percent of our business^
has been lost because of PIK
**
farmers not to plant crops, has been a boon to
both growers and to the federal government,
which wants to cut down on farm surpluses of
cotton, com, wheat and other commodities.
But in the San Joaquin Valley, PIK has
seriously hurt firms Uke Bush Hog Continental Co., an Alabama-based manufacturer and
seller of cotton gins and other farm-related
equipment.
"Forty percent of our business has been
lost because of PIK," says Don Weber,
manager of Bush Hog's Fresno regional office. "We've hadt to cut back from 70
employees to 30." "*•■-
Weber said that the company has had to
diversify into nut and grain supplies to offset
the PIK program's local effect on cotton
crops.
Fresno is the headquarters for Bush
storage 80-95 percent of what they would have
produced on their plots normally.
The farmers are then free to seU the crops
on the open market or use tbem as livestock
feed. Under PIK. between 35-40 percent of tbe
crops involved have been taken out of production for 1983.
The Secretary Manager of the Fresno
County Farm Bureau, Bill Allison, told Insight that PIK was necessary1' to bail out
farmers who were struggling because of the
low market prices caused by the surplus. He
said he thinks that Ihe PIK program was the
only way to solve the surplus problem.
"Tbe economy's been so bad lately that no
one has bought them (the crops) anyway,"
says Allison, who thinks PIK may have saved
the farming industry from a major financial
disaster.
WhUe Agriculture Secretary John Block
has been quoted as saying that PIK will cost
$10 miUion in the next three years and save
the government an estimatedX9 billion in crop
storage, one of PIK's staunchest opponents —
Sen. John Melcher, D-Mont., has argued that
PIK wiU cost $12 billion to $14 billion this year
alone.
Closer to home, District Sales Manager
George Botkin of the-Fresno office of Stauffer
Chemical Co. says PIK "has hurt us
severely."
He estimates the company's sales to -
dealers of chemicals related to PIK crops are
down 30-40 percent, roughly equiKlo the
percentage of those crops not planted because
of PIK. Stauffer is headquartered in
Westport, Conn.
"The PIK program has affected
everybody," says Botkin. "There has been a
downward effect on sales in almost all supply
firms."
Another firm suffering from PIK is Britz
Inc. of Fresno, which sells fertilizer and
chemicals for cotton and other crops.
An employee for Britz says the company
was definetely hurt by PIK. "Qur sales
revenue has been affected," says the
employee, who asked not to be identified.
The employee says the company's sales to
cotton fanners have dropped 20-30 percent.
Also, Britz has suffered a slowdown in money
flow because some farmers have delayed paying for suppUes ordered for the future. Still,
the employee is not completely opposed to
PIK.
"We believe it had a purpose and did work
to a certain point," he said.
One Fresno-area politician, Democratic
congressman Richard Lehman, has said not
only that PIK is turning into a monetary
nightmare, but also that the program is a
mistake on moral grounds.
In an August 26 guest column in the
Fresno Bee, Lehman criticized the Reagan
administration for paying farmers not to farm
PIK while hunger and poverty are on the rise
in   the  united States.
Fred Clark, a staff member at Lehman's
Washington office, tojd Insight Lehman also
was disenchanted by the way PIK was implemented.
--Clark says farmers who applied for tbe
program had to submit aerial photographs of
their acrage, which caused problems for Central VaUey farmers, who — unlike farmers in
tbe Midwest — do not usually have aerial
shots of their crops taken.
Eventually, that requirement was lifted,
but "Congress had to pass a bill to do it," says
Clark. He says the problem was typical of the
poor initial organization of PIK.
The reductions in planting has created a
loss of business for some farm support industries, including custom harvesters, crop
dusters, equipment manufacturers, fertilizer
suppliers and others.
However, it may be too early to tell how
severe PIK's impact will be on these
businesses. All ison says he has yet to hear any
complaints from any San Joaquin Valley support industries..
"I don't know of anyone who has really
been hurt by PIK," says AUison. "Nobody has
come to the farm bureau to complain about
it." •    J?K
A hearing was conducted by
Assemblyman Richard Katz on September 9.
to gauge the effects of PIK on agriculture-
related businesses.
The general consensus of the hearing was
that the full impact of PIK would not be known
until after the cotton harvest in November,
although various business owners testified
that tbey had been hurt by PIK.
Also, Edward D. Hinds, senior commercial lending officer at Bank of America, said
that 107 Califomians had a->plied for reduced
interest loans underwritten by the Small
Business Administration to help businesses
hurt by PIK.
Harvey Strmiska, the general manager at
Westlands Chemical Co., testified at the hearing on how pik had affected his company.
Strmiska told Insight that Westlands'
business is down 17 percent because of PIK
alflrthe company's sales are $1.2 million less
than at this time last year.
"PlK has blown our projections all to
heck," says Strmiska. He says Westlands Ik
having inventory problems in addition to their
reduced business and employee cutbacks.
Strmiska was pleased that the hearing
was held because "somebody actually listen-
to non-farmers for a change." Still, he said
that PIK was basically a well-intended idea.
"I think the idea was good — at least for
cotton farmers," said Strmiska. He says be
would have preferred a progrma that would
have allowed aU farmers to cut back 20-30 percent of their acreage.
Under PIK, some farmers in the San Joa-
.   quin Valley cut their acreage 100 percent, said
Strmiska.
Strmiska thinks the PIK program for cotton will be discontinued in 1964. He is optimistic that Westland's business will pick up
1
'Prisoners of conscience' concern Fresno group
By Renee Christian
insight Reporter
"...the candle barns not for us, but
for sll those whom we fall to rescue
from prison, who were tortured, who
were kidnapped, wbo disappeared.
That's what the candle Is for..."
Peter Benenson Founder,Amnesty
International
Jozef Galazka, sentenced to 18
months in a Polish prison for producing
and distributing Solidarity phamphlets,
is now a free man.
Galazka -was "adopted" by
members of the Fresno chapter of
Amnesty International and was the subject of over 190 letters written by the
group asking his release.
Amnesty International was founded in 1911 by British attorney Peter
Dseason. Tha group works worldwide
for tha release of men and women im-
rjrisonad anywhere for their beliefs, color, language, sex, ethnic origin or
religion, provided they have not used or
advocated violence. These people are
called "prisoners of conscience."
According to an organizational
brochure, the group bases its beliefs on
the United Nations Declaration of
Human Rights which reflects that
"there are fundamental rights which
transcend boundaries of nation, culture
and belief."
Amnesty International focuses its
efforts on those countries whose
governments have signed this declaration, yet continue to Imprison people In
violation of the declaration
Tha International Secretariat in
Undon, researches cases and sends information to individual chapters
around the world.
Members of Amnesty International
use letters, cards, telegrams and occasionally; phone cans to help convince
government and other influential officials to release political prisoners. In
doing SO, the group feels its actions
Glenadine Moore, Group Coordinator of the Fresno Amnesty International chapter, says the effect of their
work can be compared to "Chinese
water torture."
"We just keep sending letters, drip
by drip, asking 'would you please look
Into this'" said Moore. "We send very
polite letters."
Between 150-200 letters were written in- Galazka's behalf. The letters
were sent to addresses supplied to the
group by the International Secretariat
in London.
The letters specified for whom tbey
were being written and stated that the
writer "urged that the (prisonerU)
case be reviewed and he be granted a
pardon."
Moore explained that tbe effectiveness of such letters cannot be
measured, but laid numerous
favorable reports had been received
from the prisoners.
"They heard someone was working
for thorn, and it gave them hope," said
Moore. "They know someone is thinking about them."
Moore, 68, said she became interested in the organization because
she "hates to think of people not being
treated fairly."
"I would like to think of people having the same freedoms I haw," said
Moore.
Even though Galazka haa been
released, the Fresno chapter It still
contiuning Its support. The group has
•ant two packages of food to Galazka's
wife and two small children.
"Six months after (release), if we •
can help them, we will," said Moore. '
"When you've been imprisoned for a
long time, you havt rwthlng left on the
outside."
The Fresno chapter was formed in
December of 1983. Moore Mid about
12-14 p«ople attand tbe meetings at her
home regularly while another so have
expressed aa mtorest m the ©rgaoJza-
* from.
Tbe Fresno group has been assigned a new prisoner, Heiki Anonen of
Russia, who was imprisoned last April
after reports were found in his home
that contained information about
human rights violations in tho Soviet
Union. Such materials are considered
illegal In tbe Soviet Union.
Tbe Fresno group Is continuing a
letter-writing campaign for another
prisoner In Uruguay.
Amnesty International 1st a
volunteer organization. Groups have
worked on more than 20,000 individual
cases of known or possible prisoner* of
The organization is financed by Its
national  stctions   worldwide  And
through individual donations, membership  dues  and  subscriptions  tolts    *i
publications.
Moor* explained that each chapter
is self-supporting and pay* for Its Awn
rnvMtigatiori expenses.
(See Amnesty, page a