Polish farmers in protest

In Poland, the battle to save Polish farmland from corporate buy-outs' continues. But that's not all the Polish farmers are up against. Tractors have been blockading government institutions from 14 January. A film is available here.

Regulations that the Warsaw government has imposed over the years have made it virtually impossible to sell farm processed foods to local shops, schools or private individuals, ICPPC reports. The only way farmers can conform with the hygiene and sanitary regulations imposed from above is by carrying out their simple processing tasks in specially designed and equipped buildings that no one can afford to build or to adapt, except the very large producers supplying the food industry and supermarkets. Competition is destroyed in this case for the small and medium sized independent family farms. There are still one and a half million such farms in Poland.

ICPPC is supporting the protesting farmers to highlight this unfair treatment of all who wish to provide fine quality, flavorful and 'real' farmhouse-food in their own localities. Vital protest can be joined by sending a brief letter in support of the farmers to Prime Minister Tusk urging him to change the regulations so that family farmers can sell their products locally: Premier Rzadu RP Donald Tusk, Secretariat of the Prime Minister  (Email). A copy of the letter can be sent to ICPPC. More information is available from the ICPPC - International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside's main page, their subsection about GMO and their Ekocentrum.