Mandarine. Dominic Billings

rice is high. It’s possible, but there’s less jockeying to access Chinese rice."

      “You don’t have in-house legal counsel on salary to lobby on this issue?”

      “No, we do of course. But getting access to the subsidised production requires a lobbying legion ongoing. It’s not as if we haven’t tried in the past. I’m sure you can understand, when there’s an easy market available in the form of China, although it requires export from a foreign country’s shipping time and costs, it’s simply easier. The Chinese are very pliant with business. The quality, if I’m truthful, is inferior, but I’m not certain the average consumer we target can discern. My guess is they’d be oblivious where we make our product.”

      “You don’t do market research on such things?”

      “Our marketing team may. It doesn’t make its way up to me at the executive level. Our products have been a staple of American households for decades. Sales don’t downturn, unless alongside the broader economy, and even then, not as much as you’d think. Even in a recession, people still need what they consider to be staples.”

      “But your products aren't staples. A staple food would be bread, rice, or corn.”

      “Customers gravitate to what they’ve trusted their whole lives. It'd surprise you how sturdy a branded food they’ve been familiar with since infancy gives solace.”

      “What if you brought to bear political leverage on the states able to produce corn or rice? Or the foreign policy upon producing countries? Could you expand your business’ influence?”

      “Yes, if targeted.”

      “Then that’s where we’re geared toward in this instance. We have the broadest stroke, now we must articulate that into concrete action."

      Trent rolled the notion around in his head. “I can connect you with someone central to commodity trading in the Chicago Board of Trade. I also have a contact whose focus is Chinese trade, particularly exports from Iowa to China. This is something we can get a jump on at once. OK, we have a starting point at least here to point the way. I’ll at once engage the necessary contacts.’

      Yoland rose, outstretching her hand, which Trent returned. “Very good. I’m pleased with this. We’ll be in touch.”

      Back home from D.C., Yoland looked out upon Pittsburgh’s three rivers. It represented an almost elemental representation of Puderia franchises pockmarked upon the landscape. The Ohio River basin flowed west from western Pennsylvania, forming the boundary of the neighbouring states of Ohio and West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, before joining the Mississippi. This swath constituted the footprint of the national Puderia franchise locations.

      The Allegheny was a tributary of the Ohio, meandering alongside the western border of Pennsylvania into the southwest corner of New York state. The river and its namesake mountains gave the city of Pittsburgh its county name, Allegheny County. The Allegheny mountains form part of the larger Appalachian range, Alleghenia once interchangeable with Appalachia.

      The culture of Appalachia best characterised the network of Puderia franchises. In the 21st century, the well-worn stereotypes remained true, of mountain people living in relative poverty, now compounded by an opioid epidemic, and increasing death rates of despair.

      Yoland aspired for Puderia’s to be the ‘Starbucks of rice pudding,’ a tone difficult to set when staff oscillated between methadone and less-prescribed opiates.

      As with any fast-food restaurant, it naturally became a ‘Third Place’, but not in a cosy, caramel syrup-scented way - more for teenagers resting between delinquency, and folk who’ve nowhere better to be.

      The Rust Belt, characterised by deindustrialisation and heavy industry, followed the basin of the Ohio River and its source, the Allegheny River.

      Writer Washington Irving proposed renaming America to ‘Alleghenia’, or ‘Appalachia.’

      This made deep sense to Yoland. Why couple the United States with the forty-odd countries in the hemisphere? Pittsburgh was ground zero for America’s modern industrialisation. What better fashion to celebrate such natural bounties? Edgar Allen Poe had taken up Irving’s suggestion also in promotion of a renaming.

      Yoland’s premise was to make use of the Pud franchisees throughout the Rust Belt, Appalachia and the Ohio River Basin, to nominate as candidates for their respective state houses.

      She would create a political action committee under which she would organise. Its name was to be the United States of Alleghenia. Each candidate, to tap into $150,000 funding per state legislative seat from the PAC, would be required to take a pledge, to an agenda of 6 goals. Yoland assumed the six points would be in alignment with the franchisee-cum-candidates' self-interest.

      Tracing the Ohio and Allegheny, the state legislatures targeted would be the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Ohio General Assembly, the West Virginia Legislature, the Kentucky General Assembly, the Indiana General Assembly and Illinois General Assembly.

      The six goals each candidate pledged to were:

      1 Promote the interests of the food processing and commodities trading industry

      2 Promotion of corn refiners trade association for increased production of HFCS

      3 Promotion of agricultural subsidies for corn production

      4 Promotion of subsidies for the expansion of the Rice Belt to rival the Midwest’s Corn Belt

      5 Promotion of processed food exports to China

      6 Promotion of federal tariffs against imports of Chinese corn and rice