“The eider is an unsung hero, far braver than any bird of prey”
July 19, 2019 4:54 AM Subscribe
In Ísafjörður, the capital of Iceland’s remote Westfjords region, a Lutheran pastor compared eiderdown to cocaine. “I sometimes think that we are like the coca farmers in Colombia,” he said. “We [the down harvesters] get a fraction of the price when the product hits the streets of Tokyo. This is the finest down in the world and we are exporting it in black garbage bags.”–The Weird Magic of Eiderdown by Edward Posnett, adapted from his book Strange Harvest. Bonus video: Motherless Eider ducklings playing with human children.
A cloud of eiderdown
Draws around me
Softening a sound
Sleepy time, and I lie
With my love by my side
And she's breathing low
posted by HumanComplex at 5:22 AM on July 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
Draws around me
Softening a sound
Sleepy time, and I lie
With my love by my side
And she's breathing low
posted by HumanComplex at 5:22 AM on July 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
When tourists visit Iceland, most people go south to the volcanos and black sand beaches but we went northwest to the fjords and spent several days in Ísafjörður. It was very nice and I highly recommend it.
posted by M-x shell at 6:56 AM on July 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by M-x shell at 6:56 AM on July 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Down is such an interesting thing for me. Not unlike wool, it is a magical material that humanity has yet to replicate/surpass in it's utility and durability. I appreciate this view into the economy and history of the eiderdown market.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:21 AM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:21 AM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
a Lutheran pastor compared eiderdown to cocaine
I bet he was listening to Eric Clapton when he came up with this metaphor.
posted by biffa at 7:30 AM on July 19, 2019
I bet he was listening to Eric Clapton when he came up with this metaphor.
posted by biffa at 7:30 AM on July 19, 2019
or a little Kool and the Gang: "get down, get down..."
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:43 AM on July 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:43 AM on July 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Ok I am sorry naive question...
Why are they not trying to sell direct, do not let the big middlemen rip them off? Wouldn't people these days like to buy direct from an eider farmer living in a quaint farmhouse in Iceland? Fair Trade Eiderdown?
posted by Meatbomb at 7:53 AM on July 19, 2019
Why are they not trying to sell direct, do not let the big middlemen rip them off? Wouldn't people these days like to buy direct from an eider farmer living in a quaint farmhouse in Iceland? Fair Trade Eiderdown?
posted by Meatbomb at 7:53 AM on July 19, 2019
i mean i've already marked this post as a favorite and flagged it as fantastic, but nevertheless i feel compelled to post a comment about how this is legit the best of the web and is the sort of thing i came to this site for, way back before i started coming to this site to argue about fascism. seriously, thank you.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 8:03 AM on July 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 8:03 AM on July 19, 2019 [8 favorites]
→ Why are they not trying to sell direct … ?
I don't know eider.
posted by scruss at 8:20 AM on July 19, 2019 [15 favorites]
I don't know eider.
posted by scruss at 8:20 AM on July 19, 2019 [15 favorites]
> I don't know eider.
BOOOOOOOO
*pause for breath*
BOOOOOOOOOOO
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 8:27 AM on July 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
BOOOOOOOO
*pause for breath*
BOOOOOOOOOOO
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 8:27 AM on July 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
I don't know eider.
BOOO... oh I see RNTP beat me to it.
yaaaay
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:37 AM on July 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
BOOO... oh I see RNTP beat me to it.
yaaaay
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:37 AM on July 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
Why are they not trying to sell direct, do not let the big middlemen rip them off? Wouldn't people these days like to buy direct from an eider farmer living in a quaint farmhouse in Iceland? Fair Trade Eiderdown?
This is nowhere near my area of knowledge so take this all with a large grain of salt...
1. It is hard for any individual farmer to find buyers. Buyers are all over the world and even if the farmer were to confine themselves to a particular country there would still be multiple places to look for buyers. This is costly and time consuming, and I doubt the farmer has extra time or money to do this. Contrast this with the buyers who could fly down to the area and visit every farmer in a couple of weeks.
2. Any individual farmer isn't going to have a large position in the market and likely a buyer would be getting their eiderdown from multiple farmers, so if any given farmer raised their price the buyer could just speak do a different farmer.
The result of this is that the farmers end up being price takers instead of price makers.
One solution to this from the farmer standpoint is some kind of grouping together, whether it is a cartel, co-operative association, or marketing board. Then the group can have its own people search for new buyers/markets and the increase in demand would hopefully increase their price. The group can also then set the price of eiderdown because it represents all of the farmers. If a buyer wants eiderdown for its jackets/duvets/whatever then they will have to pay what the group says or not use eiderdown. So now the farmers are the price makers. The group could also do things like establish reserves of eiderdown so that it could store excess eiderdown in years where there is a bumper harvest and use that the supplement production in years where there is lower production, this would give both the farmers and buyers a more consistent price instead of having it rise and fall according to the harvest.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:36 PM on July 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
This is nowhere near my area of knowledge so take this all with a large grain of salt...
1. It is hard for any individual farmer to find buyers. Buyers are all over the world and even if the farmer were to confine themselves to a particular country there would still be multiple places to look for buyers. This is costly and time consuming, and I doubt the farmer has extra time or money to do this. Contrast this with the buyers who could fly down to the area and visit every farmer in a couple of weeks.
2. Any individual farmer isn't going to have a large position in the market and likely a buyer would be getting their eiderdown from multiple farmers, so if any given farmer raised their price the buyer could just speak do a different farmer.
The result of this is that the farmers end up being price takers instead of price makers.
One solution to this from the farmer standpoint is some kind of grouping together, whether it is a cartel, co-operative association, or marketing board. Then the group can have its own people search for new buyers/markets and the increase in demand would hopefully increase their price. The group can also then set the price of eiderdown because it represents all of the farmers. If a buyer wants eiderdown for its jackets/duvets/whatever then they will have to pay what the group says or not use eiderdown. So now the farmers are the price makers. The group could also do things like establish reserves of eiderdown so that it could store excess eiderdown in years where there is a bumper harvest and use that the supplement production in years where there is lower production, this would give both the farmers and buyers a more consistent price instead of having it rise and fall according to the harvest.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:36 PM on July 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
Two BOOOOs in the one day? I must be doing something right. At least we've got a response to the old What's the difference between a duck? thing now.
BTW, these ducks make some of the most lascivious noises heard on this planet. They're like seagoing Frankie Howerds.
posted by scruss at 1:12 PM on July 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
BTW, these ducks make some of the most lascivious noises heard on this planet. They're like seagoing Frankie Howerds.
posted by scruss at 1:12 PM on July 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Here's a pack of photos we took in Ísafjörður and surrounding areas.
posted by M-x shell at 6:53 PM on July 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by M-x shell at 6:53 PM on July 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by Kattullus at 5:00 AM on July 19, 2019 [8 favorites]