Exchange has been the subject of one of my earlier posts
already. About a year ago I made a series about differences in Dutch and
Italian food culture. This time I will stay more close to my and your home. However,
if you want to you can still go far from home.
Before monetary value was invented people used to exchange
to foresee in their needs. Eggs were exchanged for cereals, some goats for a
cow. Besides exchanging goods knowledge was turned over from father to son when
it concerned professional intelligence and from mother to daughter when it
concerned cooking, sewing and raising the children.
The Romans introduced the money as we know it now. However,
only later people became more dependent on the content of their wallet. The market
squares in cities were still the center of commerce but in a different way. The
seller came with a product and left with money while the buyer did it the other
way around. It made it easier because the seller and buyer became less
dependent from each other; it wasn’t necessary to find someone who had exactly
the merchandise you needed. As soon as you sold your stuff you could go
somewhere else to buy what you wanted to own. Market slowly were replaced by (specialty)
shops.
Now money seems to get scarcer
exchange of goods becomes popular again. We share cars, bikes and homes when
necessary. But also knowledge is on the market again. It is now exchanged in
books, on the internet, during lectures between colleagues and so on. It seems
we don’t care that anyone can read the information we send out onto the World
Wide Web. Whether it is about our latest holiday, a hangover or a new home.
A more exiting exchanging way to trade in knowledge is to go back onto
the market again. Meet the people who made or produced it. Ask some questions
and get back information. Try to go down on the price in a real life
discussion. Or even better. Make sure that it doesn’t cost you any money at
all.
This recipes market was one
of the activities I recently found out about. But more is to come. Like the DAG
HAP festival hosted a home-made food market and a fashion label organized a
clothes swap. So step from behind your computer and go into public again!
