Gathering is the process and the result of gathering. This verb mentions the act of accumulating something, usually provisions or food. For example: “The municipality announced the creation of a seed collection center”, “The collection of donations will take place in the schools of the city”, “The police detected three drug collection sites near the border”.
The definition indicates that accumulation must occur in large quantities so that we can speak of gathering. This is because it is not a casual action, but a voluntary one, with a well-defined objective.
In many regions, it is common for there to be collection centers that bring together the production of those entrepreneurs who, due to size issues, have difficulties in marketing their products directly. These storage spaces are used by small producers to reduce their costs and negotiate together, obtaining more benefits by selling their merchandise.
Take the case of a town where many people live off artisanal fishing, which is done in small boats and on a reduced scale. These fishermen usually sell the fish on the beach, placing the merchandise in containers with ice so that it does not rot. The local government, with the intention that the fishermen can store the fish longer and sell it wholesale, creates a collection center with a cold store. In this way, artisanal fishermen are not obliged to sell fresh fish just out of the sea, but have more marketing possibilities.
It is important to understand that the main purpose of collection centers is to allow small producers to compete in the markets of large urbanizations with quality articles and with enough quantity to meet demand.
Another example of a collection center is found on the main roads of agricultural production regions that are relatively far from large urbanizations. Production is concentrated there, then it undergoes a selection and packaging process, and finally it is sent to urban markets. Some of the elements common to these centers are a shed adapted to loading and unloading vegetables, sorting tables and scales.
The idea of collection also appears in natural disasters, when movements are launched to raise funds with the aim of helping the victims. It is common for those who coordinate the solidarity campaign to establish collection sites and then send donations to those affected.
The collection concept appears in other emergency situations, such as a deep economic crisis characterized by sudden changes in food prices: when there are uncontrolled cases of inflation, it is common for people to go as soon as possible to their supermarket more Nearby to stock up on groceries, since he doesn’t know how much the products he needs will cost the next day.
Situations like this have happened more than once, in different countries, and generate great despair, as prices can change from one moment to the next, while people try to get as many products as possible and fight with dozens of other citizens. who are in the same nightmare.
The need for collection in a case like this exists especially in families with young children, since proper nutrition is one of their parents’ priorities: while an adult could support himself with products such as rice and pasta, children They need a wide variety of foods for their organisms to develop properly.
