Photos

The alternative title "Small farming versus economic development" was simply too long.
The lady was offering the half a dozen eggs in her hand for 5 lei, the equivalent of 1.40 euro, which is comparable to the price of eggs from free-running chickens in Western Europe or North America. She was standing outside the new farmer's market in Cluj, and my guess is that her big business wasn't entirely legal. Nevertheless, like most people who have not been not excessively touched by the blessings of the free-market economy, she was very friendly, happy to chat with me and have her picture taken. She came from the rural areas West of Cluj and, without having any ethnographic expertise, I suspect that her dress is very authentic and representative for this area.
The economic development is obvious in Romania's major cities and it is certain that sooner or latter they will align themselves with their West-European counterparts. I have serious doubts that the rural areas in the mountainous regions will ever catch up with this development and I fear that they will end up deserted, but hopefully the future will prove me wrong in this regard.
There are numerous positive aspects to the economic development in Eastern Europe, but there are also some negative ones. The farmer's market in downtown Cluj used to be a large, open-air, vibrant area with stalls where farmers were offering their produce directly to the customers. It was replaced by a much smaller, enclosed space where the hygiene is much easier to control. Unfortunately, the volume and diversity of the produce was reduced considerably and probably this picture is telling for the consequences of the economic development: it is somewhat difficult to imagine how a small farmer like this could make a decent living from selling eggs by the dozen outside the farmer's market, in direct competition to the supermarkets. Generally, retail does not encourage small farming and a lot of tradition gets lost on the way to progress...