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Government funding for the local agricultural industry is purely meant for sustainability of supply. It can never replace or interfere in the market distribution system ( , Nov 1). It is easy to imagine that local farmers can supply directly to food caterers for the army, airlines, hospitals and others. But there is a lot of work to be done before products from the farm are made marketable. It is quite another matter to clean, trim and select the good-quality vegetables in the actual supply chain. Singapore’s high labour costs, expensive land, logistics and actual process involved before distribution are also complicated.  There is no chance that our local vegetable farms can ever offer competitive prices to replace imports from large countries like Malaysia and other neighbouring countries. No one wants to spoil the established relationship to disrupt a reliable supply chain. It is more practical to prepare for long-term preservation of vegetable freshness to cater for unforeseen circumstances.