Bernstein Says U.S. Anti-Drug Aid Helped Build Peru's Blueberry Business
He says Peru kept growing drugs and U.S. growers now struggle to compete with imports.
This Week in Startups · Danny Bernstein left Big Tech to fund farm-bots | E2310Danny Bernstein, founder of Reservoir Farms, a farm-technology incubator near Salinas, California, says U.S. anti-drug aid helped build Peru's blueberry business.
He suggests searching the words blueberries Peru. He says the United States invested heavily through USAID to establish farm infrastructure in Peru as a deterrent to the drug trade.
The drug trade continued, he says, but Peru used that infrastructure to create the South American blueberry business.
Bernstein says the United States is importing more fresh produce than ever, and it is hard for growers in California and Michigan to make the numbers work because U.S. policy has subsidized farm production abroad.
Questions people ask
What is USAID?
USAID was the federal agency that managed much of America's civilian foreign aid. That included farm aid and rural development projects. Bernstein is referring to programs that tried to give farmers in places like Peru another livelihood besides drug crops.
Why single out California and Michigan growers?
Bernstein names them as examples of U.S. growers. He says it is hard for growers in California and Michigan to make the numbers work because U.S. policy has subsidized farm production abroad.