Cucumbers

 

Would our Polish or East European readers educate us on the importance of the cucumber in Polish food recipes? The cucumber is a fruit, grown from flowers of plant and has seeds, but is commonly called a vegetable because of its use in food, Whether the cucumber is a ‘marmite’ type of food or not is down to individual taste.

It has now become the centre of a furore between Poles and Russians. Polish farmers want to see Russian cucumbers sanctioned. Not for the reasons that many sanctions already exist on all kinds of Russian commodities and services because it is a ‘punishment’ on the Russians for the conflict between it and Ukraine. The uproar on the part of the Poles is based upon a good old capitalist reason – unfair competition. Presumably, those Polish consumers who love to use cucumbers in their culinary endeavours don’t care where the fruit comes from if it saves them money when purchased.

Polish capitalist cucumber farmers care greatly about their profits and that concern overrides any benefit to consumers when it comes to cheaper food.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, in 1855, ‘If a man has good corn or wood, or boards, or pigs, to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs, than anybody else, you will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods.’ The reaction of Poles to more expensive cucumbers, should Polish producers get their way, will be interesting to observe.

Being capitalism someone should inform Polish producers that instead of bitching they should be looking to produce cucumbers on a par with, or cheaper than, the Russian ones. Poles gripe that Russians benefit from cheaper energy, and thus reduced production costs .It was their ‘leaders’, along with many others in Western Europe, who brought about this situation through the sanctioning of Russia energy. Faff around, find out as the saying goes.

We, of course, hold no torch for any of the participants in this spat. Whether it’s cucumbers or any other commodity w,hich is produced to be sold and realise the surplus value involved in the production, profit is the name of the game. So whether the capitalists are Poles, Russians, or whoever, we say a plague on your houses and look forward to the time when, with a free access society, such squabbles are no longer undertaken.

‘Polish cucumber producers have called for a ban on Russian imports after data revealed that Russia became the nation’s leading supplier in March, according to local media reports. Polish farmers claim that Russian producers benefit from lower energy costs, allowing them to sell products at cheaper prices.

While overall Russian agricultural exports to the EU fell by 79% year-on-year in January 2025, shipments of fresh cucumbers from Russia rose sharply, according to Eurostat data. In Poland in particular, deliveries reached a four-year high in the spring.

Lukasz Gwizdala, the operations director of the Polish Association of Tomato and Cucumber Producers, claimed last week that the influx of Russian cucumbers has disrupted the domestic market. He stated that Polish farmers have urged the government to ban imports of the vegetable amid record supply levels.

Over 2,000 tons, worth €2.7 million ($3.07 million), entered Poland in March – 2.5 times more than in February and 25% higher than in March 2024, RIA Novosti reported last week, citing Eurostat data. The export value was the highest since March 2021, when sales reached €3.1 million. Of the €3.25 million Poland spent on cucumber imports in March, 83% came from Russia, making Poland the leading EU importer of Russian cucumbers, the figures showed.

Polish farmers argue they are facing unfair competition from Russian producers, as heating greenhouses to grow tomatoes and cucumbers requires fuel, which has become significantly more expensive over the past three years.

“The Russians have access to their own energy resources, and as a result, lower production costs,” Gwizdala told the outlet. “When they sell their products in Poland, we are dealing with unfair competition because we have limited access to cheap energy.”

The EU has imposed multiple sanctions targeting Russian energy exports since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. The restrictions have led to a rapid rise in energy prices and production costs for energy-intensive industries within the bloc, hitting various sectors including greenhouse agriculture.

Gwizdala said his association is now in talks with the agriculture and environment ministries, pushing for an EU-wide embargo on cucumber and tomato imports from Russia and Belarus, with a decision possible within the next two months.

Last year, Sergey Dankvert, head of Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor, told RBK that lower gas prices make Russian greenhouse vegetables cheaper than those in the EU. He predicted that with costly US LNG, European products risk losing their competitiveness while Russian exports gain market share.'