Star king, the Mediterranean starling, swooped over the vast southern Mediterranean olive groves. Life was good. Exceedingly good. His brethren were doing their work faster than the speed of Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari. Star King was delighted that the flocks of starlings in the southern Mediterranean had discovered the health giving properties of olives.
He ruminated on his success. No longer would he, Star King, be under threat from starling upstarts. His position as leader of the flocks was unassailable. With a flick of his wings he landed on an olive tree and started his daily munching. How delicious, he thought. Wonderful stuff, olives.
Olive oil prices have rocketed. It wasn’t long ago when you could buy a 750 ml bottle of olive oil for R45. Then it jumped up to R85. It didn’t stay there long. Last year it was R140 and started climbing to R180. Yesterday I decided not to buy a bottle of olive oil because it was R246.
These price increases defy all logic. But first let’s see what logic tells us. Some say it’s high demand because of the health giving properties of olive oil. Others say it’s the weakening rand mainly because of the failed state. The greens have they say blaming climate change.
According to a research report published by MDPI, ?southern Europe jointly produces roughly 95% of the world’s supply of olive oil. The world’s production of olive oil is approximately 2.5 million tons, and the main producers are Spain (38%), Italy (11%) and Greece (11%). How’s this for agricultural ?growing concentration. ?
But all these causes overlook the main culprits. The starling conspiracy.
A small note in Olive Oil Times reports that Starlings can eat up to 5 kilos of olives per day. They find sustenance in farmlands, vineyards and olive groves. Moving in flocks of thousands they raid crops, blemish vegetables and fruits with droppings, making them no longer marketable.
Star King knew about the farmers wanting to meet to discuss their plight with him and his ?great murmurations of fellow starlings. But he wasn’t in any hurry to meet with them. They hadn’t been particularly kind to him and his brethren.
Brutal methods were catalogued in agricultural research studies on how to frighten starlings. Farmers had introduced frightening devices including recorded distress or alarm calls, gas-operated exploders, battery- operated alarms, pyrotechnics (e.g. shellcrackers, bird bombs), chemical frightening agents (Avitrol), lights (for roosting sites at night), bright objects, and other noise makers. Beating on tin sheets or barrels with clubs were also introduced.
Harassing birds, throughout the evening as they land. Spraying birds with water from a hose or from sprinklers mounted in the roost trees.
What nasty people, he thought. Didn’t the farmers realize that it was only through meeting him, Star King, that they would be able to solve their problem? He didn’t want to admit it, but if there were no olives, he would lose his position at the top of the roosting pole. The Starling nation would have to go in search of other crops. He wasn’t keen on quotas, but he knew it would eventually come. He would have to purr, rattle, scream, chatter, chirp, and trill with farmers to negotiate quotas on starling consumption of olives.
He also anticipated, dreadful of all, starling olive grove reservations, where only starlings would be allowed to eat.
But he held a trump card. His relatives, the mynah birds from India and Asia, could be brought over to team up with his starling nation to give the farmers a fright of their lives.
So until the starlings of the southern Mediterranean ?and farmers sit down to a great murmuration the prices olive oil ?will continue to climb faster than the speed of a Ferrari driven by Charles LeClerc.
Now for a quick business message: ?If you want to write well, in whatever field, ?you need to use your imagination. If you need help with your writing, ?dash me an email.
