Quality junk food??

A well-known and visited marketplace in Kabul, Afghanistan referred to as "Bush Bazaar" has been famous for selling American products, from food, to clothes, to cleaning supplies. With the height of U.S. presence in Afghanistan, this was a major advantage for the merchants. This little market turned into the main place to get popular American products, military boots, and even junk food that was sold for even cheaper than what it is here. This played a huge part in the lives of both merchants and buyers in the area.

At first when I saw this article, the words "quality junk food" stood out to me, wondering how that's really possible. The things we see on a day to day basis and don't see as a big deal, like the article mentioned pop-tarts or cheez-its, mean a lot more to these markets. With the access to all of these special American-made products, the merchants were at their highest selling rates. Now that the level of international troops have declined, so has their access to American goods. Which means more products and knock-offs are coming in from China.

“There are not enough original products and people aren’t buying what we have,” [shop owner]  says. “For two years now, both the supply and demand for original products has dried up...This Bush Bazzar was famous for American products. Now that we have Chinese products, people have stopped coming.”

Here in America, we almost take advantage and overlook these simple things like cleaning products or junk food, whereas at Bush Bazaar, they were novelties. This shows how American products and access to them played a huge role in not only merchants, but buyers in the area as well.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2015/0126/Quality-junk-food-in-Kabul-Harder-to-find-now-at-the-legendary-Bush-Bazaar