farmers plea with supermarkets, page-10

That argument is fine but when you have a cost base of $1 million a year (for a small grain farm), making a 1% saving on your cost base ($10,000) can mean the difference between survival of your business or failure because the margins are so tight and seasons throw you curve balls more often than not.

When you go for Chinese food you are saving a few cents here and there and of course these savings add up today. But they come with a guarantee of more expensive and unsafer food in the future if we move to reliance on imports. There is a cost in accumulated toxins on your health. The Chinese are using pesticides that were banned in Australia 30 years ago. Food is a different kettle of fish to a tractor or a farm ute.