^-- That post is living proof, if one was needed at all, that there is no such thing as universal truth.

Whenever I hear about "fair pricing" and "protecting the livelihood" of one group or another, my immediate question is why does someone feel that the prices need protecting. Clearly someone can produce the product - be it maple syrup, bananas or mobile phones - cheaper.

You say the price fixing helps the farmers who, for one reason or another, cannot produce it cheaper.

I say it helps those who can produce it cheaper even more. Thus, far from reducing the gap between those two, it widens it. On top of that, price fixing diminishes any incentive to increase efficiency, with all the detrimental effects on productivity, economy and ecology.