The chips are down: Belgium counts the cost of betting all on the potato
Written by Daniel Boffeyin Frameries, Belgium
A row over a huge processing plant has exposed flaws in the country’s reliance on a single crop. In Frameries, campaigners call for farmers to diversify
A humble frite with a dollop of mayonnaise is a revered thing in Belgium but, thanks to campaigners against a new mega-processing plant, the environmental and social costs of its mass production are being newly questioned at the highest levels of government.
For three years, residents in Frameries, a town in French-speaking Hainaut in the south-west of the country, have battled against the proposed construction of a €300m (£258m) factory, which it is said would increase Belgian production of processed potato products by a third. Belgium is already the world’s largest exporter of pre-fried potato products.
Continue reading...
Since you’re here …
… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. Support the Guardian – it only takes a minute. Thank you.
