Keith Romer
Appearances
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
His assignment was to figure out what else besides asparagus his company should grow, something that would grow in sandy soil, stay fresh on a container ship, and hit American markets in the winter. And there was one fruit that Jose Antonio really loved, one from the northern hemisphere that was non-existent in Peru when he was growing up.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
But now, Jose Antonio and his Peruvian colleagues wanted to see if they could come up with a blueberry that would grow in their country. Essentially, they were doing what USAID scientists had done with asparagus, but with blueberries.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
Jose Antonio and his team had found a blueberry that would thrive on Peru's coast. But they still had to figure out how to create a pipeline, how to sell and market those berries in the U.S.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
But he told them, mark my words, our country is going to be the largest blueberry producer and exporter in the world.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
Yeah, the pitch did not work well. Some companies wanted an exclusive deal. Other companies insisted that they only grow certain varieties, not the Biloxi.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
Before, he was calling blueberry brands. Now he was going straight to the supermarkets themselves.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
Because some people do not think Biloxi blueberries taste all that good.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
He told Jose Antonio that it wasn't just the taste. This blueberry actually had a few other things going for it, too.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
Ever. It's true. Jose Antonio says he didn't realize he had that consistency advantage. And he discovered he had another advantage.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
Yeah. Which we call brain berries. One of my favorites. I mix them with yogurt in the morning.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
Suddenly, supermarkets had to figure out how to keep blueberries on the shelf all year long. The Costco contract turned into contracts with Walmart and Publix.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
From what I can tell, Erica, about 4% of that is in your house alone.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
So the impact of this aid for trade program on Peru has been pretty striking. Americans are obviously not responsible for all of the transformations that took place. But that giant upfront investment, plus a series of free trade agreements, those were definitely fruitful. Peruvians now grow and export not just asparagus and blueberries, but also a lot of mangoes and avocados and cocoa and coffee.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
Like my entire grocery cart. Yes. Back in 1990, when all of this started, Peru exported about $60 million worth of fruit and vegetable products worldwide. Lately, that number is closer to $7 billion.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
And I'm Keith Romer. Today on the show, the surprising story of an American initiative in South America. The goal? To curtail cocaine production. The strategy? To deploy drug enforcement agents, seed scientists, USAID, and free trade as weapons in the war on drugs.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
And right up until the beginning of this year, when President Trump cut almost all of USAID's budget, the U.S. was still sending millions of dollars to Peru annually for aid programs like crop substitution. And there has been some success getting farmers up in the Peruvian mountains to switch from coca to crops like coffee and cocoa.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
So now Peru is successfully exporting a whole lot of blueberries and still a whole lot of coca.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
This episode of Planet Money was produced by Sylvie Douglas with help from Willow Rubin. It was edited by Marianne McCune and engineered by Jimmy Keeley. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
Today, we're going on a journey to explain how we got all of those cheap Peruvian blueberries. That story begins in the United States. In the 70s and the 80s, cocaine, especially crack cocaine, became a real problem. It was ruining people's lives. It was ruining communities.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
At the same time, there was this other effort to target the supply side.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
So the cocaine was coming from Colombian drug cartels. But the coca plants, where cocaine comes from, they were growing all over the Andes, in Bolivia, Ecuador, and most of all, Peru. This was the very start of the supply chain.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
So began what the U.S. called its Andean strategy. American law enforcement agents started outfitting the Peruvian military and local police with the weapons and equipment they needed to literally root out the problems.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
Of course, they're going to tear it out. These are warriors. But trying to make change on the ground was really hard because the Americans were not exactly in control. There were cartels, militants, corrupt leaders, and all of them were making money off of the coca plant. So you could rip it out all you want. But farmers would find their way back to growing it because it was their livelihood.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
Programs like these are informally called aid for trade. So instead of just sending a country aid, you send them aid that will help them trade.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
So all of this was happening in the early 1990s when free trade was opening up in all kinds of ways. Congress voted to eliminate tariffs on almost everything grown in Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, the four countries where most of the cocaine was coming from. The idea was to encourage more legitimate trade. And this is the program that Robert, as chief economist at the U.S.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
International Trade Commission, was filing detailed reports about every year.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
This combination of military, law enforcement, development aid, and scientific research was a massive effort.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
And that brings us to the next part of our journey. What to grow and where exactly to grow it.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
And changing crops could actually be dangerous. Early on, there were even attacks on USAID facilities and workers in Peru.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
So in parallel, American aid workers and some farming pioneers were also trying to grow crops in an unexpected part of Peru, along the country's dry, sandy coast.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
But regardless, Gustavo joined his friend, the two of them working to get a foothold on the sandy coast. And that's when they heard about these other coastal farmers who were working with Americans on seed projects south from where they were. Yes, the USAID.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
I also love asparagus. Lots of Americans love asparagus. But back then, it was hard to get asparagus year-round. So there was a natural market for this Peruvian asparagus that grew on an opposite schedule. Affluent Peruvians started buying up land on the Costa farm. USAID offered them asparagus seeds. And those seeds started to sow a new era for Peru.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
The combination of those changes in Peru with American investment, it worked. Words spread about this new industry where you could get a steady paycheck and not fear for your life.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
Asparagus became this massive industry. And it wasn't just fresh asparagus, but also canned asparagus. American companies like Del Monte closed asparagus operations here in the U.S. and shifted them to Peru. All these asparagus canning factories opened up on the Peruvian coast. And after 10 years of fresh asparagus being available all year long, Americans were eating twice as much of it.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
This is the moment this whole project to start a healthy new economy in Peru was really put to the test. Now these Peruvian farmers had to figure out how to adapt, but without American help.
Planet Money
How the War on Drugs got us... blueberries
Jose Antonio had been absent for this entire transformation. In the 1990s, he left Peru because the country was in turmoil. So he went abroad to work in fruit. Banana farms in Costa Rica, the fresh cut fruit industry in Belgium, the Los Angeles produce terminal. He learned just about every aspect of the business.