West Flanders is a true agricultural megacenter where potatoes of all varieties are grown. Most potato growers in the province supply the large processing plants under contract. This dictates a certain quota, non-compliance with which can result in damage to the growers. In order not to waste energy and money on disposal, the farmers have decided to give the potatoes away for free, The Brussels Times reports.
After the announcement of the distribution of potatoes in the Belgian farm about every 10 minutes came a car with people willing to take advantage of the offer. At the same time, the farmers believe that physically they will not be able to give away all the potatoes that are in storage. “We hope to get rid of at least 50 tons,” said the owner of the farm. – Some of it we will give away, some we will mix with cut grass in the silo to make it fodder for next year’s livestock, and the rest we will bury in the field, plowing it up. If we have to haul it out, dump it in the field and destroy it, it will cost us time, and time is money. So instead we give it away to people. It’s a win-win for everybody.”
And in Germany, too
Earlier, back in the winter, a similar (forced) charity event took place in Germany. In Berlin, 4 thousand tons of potatoes were distributed free of charge. The action was announced by the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper and the Berlin company Ecosia. The stated reason: Germany has the largest harvest for a quarter of a century – more than 13 million tons of potatoes (+17% of the long-term average).
Unnecessary for the European agri-food business, top-grade potatoes were stored in a warehouse near Leipzig. In order not to spend money on futile storage, the owner of the products, a Saxon farmer, contacted Berlin event organizers and journalists and offered them to take the cargo to the country’s capital. The organizers of the action offered 1 ton of potatoes to those willing – church parishes, schools, sports clubs, social aid organizations and even just private individuals. The main thing is that they were ready to distribute the potatoes among the needy, DW reported.
To the east, in Poland, there was no information about such actions in the media. However, some publications write that this month the price of potatoes in some agricultural regions of the country fell to 0.01 euros/kg. That is, the goods were sold for less than the cost of their utilization.
And what about Moldova?
In Moldova, as Logos Press wrote earlier, wholesale prices for potatoes are two to three times higher than average prices in Poland and Ukraine. At the same time, in the second half of April, quality potatoes in bulk even rose slightly in price.
However, in winter and spring in social networks and Internet resources there are photos and video clips in which seemingly quite normal onions are lying in large quantities in the dumps of Moldovan settlements. Specialists claim that these products are of early varieties, stored not in the best conditions – with expired shelf life. None of the retailers would agree to buy it “at their own risk”. But high-quality products are becoming more expensive.
However, there are still a lot of potatoes in Moldova, they are stored better than onions and are in higher demand. It is unlikely that anyone would dare to give it away for free.
