Bush, asparagus and the drug war

by Frank James

Another example of how tough it is to be president. You can get in trouble for complimenting the local vegetables when on a foreign trip without causing a controversy.

The Wall Street Journal has a small story about domestic asparagus growers being ticked off after President Bush lauded German asparagus during a June visit to Germany during which the president described the Teutonic version of the missile-shaped vegetable as "fabulous."

The Journal reports that this resulted in the president receiving a shipment of American asparagus:

"Anyone who enjoys asparagus is missing out if they haven't tried the asparagus we grow in Washington," said Rep. Doc Hastings, a Republican. To make sure the president wasn't missing out, he and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray shipped 10 pounds of domestic asparagus to the White House.

But interesting as that is, it's not the best part of the story. That would be this bit of information which will no doubt come as news to many people. It was certainly news to me:

American asparagus farmers have been struggling in recent years against cheaper imports. Shipments from Peru and Mexico now account for almost 80% of America's fresh-asparagus market by volume. Imports of Peruvian asparagus had increased to 87 million pounds by 2006 from four million pounds in 1991. The U.S. in the early 1990s began subsidizing Peru's asparagus industry and eliminated import tariffs to encourage an alternative crop for coca growers, hoping to stem the flow of Andean cocaine.

So American asparagus growers have been sacrificed to the drug war? Think on that the next time you're in the produce section checking out those spears.