Agreed, no exchange fees is what we are looking for, for international travel and trade. Its just going to take time to get people onboard. Good luck @theoldguy.
One concept you might be interested in as a farmer/seller is the block-chain in supply chain; just as currency can be represented in a transaction, so in theory can your tomatos be. Imagine if at your market your customers could scan a QR code at your stall and see proof your tomatos were really from your farm, and see if your organic credentials are up to date (or whatever) and then link to your steemit account where you have some nice ideas for tomato soups. There is a company working on it https://www.provenance.org/