Belgian Farmers go on Milk-Dumping Binge to Protest Low Prices
September 18, 2009 · Print This Article
In Europe, you can get a liter of milk for 20 (Euro) cents. That doesn’t even begin to cover dairy farmers’ expenses – and to make a point, they’ve dumped millions of liters of the cow secretions into a field. The mass dumping was just the latest move in a protest that has also included blocking deliveries and holding back supplies.
From Reuters:
They blame both the European Commission and local governments and about 7,000 liters of milk was dumped in front of German agriculture ministry buildings in Bonn on Saturday.
Leaders of the protests say they want the European Union to freeze planned increases in production quotas and on Wednesday they demanded the creation of a pan-European institution to regulate the demand and supply of milk.
“It is really sad that we have to throw away the milk,” Romuald Schaber, president of the European Milk Board, said at a demonstration in Belgium where protesting farmers watched hundreds of tractors spew milk over fields.
“Our demands were not heard by the politicians.”
That field is seriously going to stink like hell for a while – and imagine all the hormones seeping into the soil. What a waste. Ironically, over in Britain, there’s a milk shortage, with British farmers saying they simply can’t meet the demand for milk. Dairies and supermarkets in Britain have to import millions of liters a day from abroad, but apparently that’s not enough to help out the angry European dairy farmers.
Link [Reuters] + [Times Online]
Photo credit: BBC
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On one count, nothing new here. European farmers, dairy and otherwise, have always been angry at someone. As if there’s not enough government regulation of food products in Europe, these same farmers are now demanding yet another “pan-European institution to regulate…” Always with the government regulation. When will one of these bright light bulbs figure out that’s what got them into this mess to begin with. Oh, one more thing: anyone familiar with the words “government subsidy?”
If these ‘farmers’ think they are getting a bum deal, they should spare a thought for the cows they enslave for their milk. This is karmic retribution, nothing but.
Meanwhile , millions of poor people in developing/under-developed countries continue to die of hunger every year .