[Desk Column] Good Consumption

[Asia Economy Reporter Myung Jin-gyu] It happened a few days ago. Choi Moon-soon, Governor of Gangwon Province, changed his social network service (SNS) account name to "Potato-Selling Governor" to sell potatoes for the residents, and out of curiosity, I visited the related site. A 10kg box was being sold for 5,000 won. Usually, open market delivery fees are around 2,500 to 3,000 won, so the potatoes effectively cost about 2,000 won for 10kg. After a short trip to the restroom, all quantities were already sold out.

The next day, while chatting with my wife on KakaoTalk, I mentioned it, and she replied that she had successfully purchased a box through Naver Store. When I accessed the site, it was also sold out. Fortunately, when the Gangwon Provincial Office's own server was overwhelmed and operation became impossible, they switched the sales platform to Naver, and immediately after switching, she succeeded in purchasing.

Since that day, a battlefield has erupted at "Gangwon Mart," which sells Gangwon potatoes. The competition rate is as high as 100 to 1, and every day at 10 a.m., winners and losers are decided within a minute. This phenomenon has been dubbed "Pocketing," a new word combining "potato" and "ticketing." From the 11th to the 20th, a total of 78,000 boxes, or 780 tons, of potatoes were sold over 10 days.

Over the weekend, I opened the box of potatoes that arrived. They were quite large. Unlike the small, round potatoes about the size of a child's fist that we usually see, these varied from rock-sized large ones to tangerine-sized ones. Some potatoes, after roughly brushing off the soil, had bruises. After thoroughly washing the dirt off, I took out the potato peeler after a long time, and the family sat side by side to start peeling the potatoes. Since it was 10kg, the quantity was substantial. After a while, some potatoes were steamed, and some were blended to make ongshimi (potato dough soup), which then went into the freezer.

Looking at the pile of potatoes (not quite a mountain, but still a lot), my wife felt proud. Besides the fun of winning the "Potato War," there was also the joy of purchasing 10kg of potatoes for about 2,500 won excluding delivery fees. But more importantly, there was the pleasure of "good consumption." Although it was a small purchase, adding the meaning of helping our farmers made it a "good consumption." As a bonus, the family enjoyed a pleasant time peeling potatoes together after a long time.

The distribution industry has suffered immeasurably due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). To prevent the spread of COVID-19, social distancing was fully implemented, and with work-from-home and school delays, the school meal market collapsed, leading to a significant drop in agricultural and marine product consumption. Apple prices also fell to their lowest since 2010. Production increased significantly, but consumption decreased due to COVID-19. Given this situation, slightly defective "ugly apples" are at risk of being buried in the ground.

Emart, which once sold "ugly potatoes" with Baek Jong-won, sold "ugly apples" and scratched products, which accounted for 30% of the total apple volume, at low prices. Word spread that this helped apple farmers and allowed consumers to buy fruit cheaply, and all products were sold out. "Bead strawberries," which are 30-40% smaller than regular strawberries and were previously overlooked due to lower commercial value, also sold out thanks to the "good consumption" story: "They are good for making strawberry jam," "They are suitable for children," and "They help strawberry farmers."

This "good consumption" craze is giving quiet hope to our farmers. Following Gangwon Province, local governments nationwide have simultaneously started supporting good consumption of agricultural products. From the farmers' perspective, agricultural products that were buried due to lack of commercial value are now being sold, and local governments are handling delivery fees and sales site operations. Consumers benefit the most. They can purchase Korean agricultural products at affordable prices and take care of their health. Therefore, "good consumption" does not end with just consuming.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.