ABSTRACT
Ou Xi always aims at selling his vegetables himself, as does Chen Quan, but generally his wife takes care of the marketing, both selling to the stalls and hawking on the path. The marketing organization, i.e. the Sha Tin Rural Committee, extracts a small fee for all produce sold in the market by way of a compulsory weighing operation. The Vegetable Marketing Organization marketing system is closely linked to a number of marketing co-operative societies in the New Territories. The Vegetable Marketing Organization handles imported produce also, and this -generally coming from China - is sold in competition with the greens brought in from the New Territories. Most farmers keep such labels in their cottages and many keep a stock of the businessmen’s baskets in their backyards in order to make the marketing preparations easier. Generally illegal marketing is limited to a short period every year - the Chinese New Year season.
