Farmers to block delivery of food to stores

Fruit and vegetables, delivery of food to storesFruit and vegetables.Photo. pixabay.com

Farmers to block delivery of food to stores from warehouses

Between 200 and 300 farmers will block goods transports from warehouses as of Friday at 6 am. the blockade will involve the three largest food chains’ wholesale stores across the country. This will curb delivery of food to stores.

 

Blockades are a protest against the agricultural settlement

– We want to make it clear that Norwegian food is not something to taken as granted, says Lars Petter Bartnes.

Bartnes is the chairman of the farmer’s union.

On Tuesday there was a halt to the agricultural negotiations. Thursday farmers took action along roads and in shops across the country. Now the key actions are escalated.

– We do not want to affect the consumers, but we must be clear about the consequences when the Government will not invest in agriculture everywhere in the country. It is a policy that can affect the consumer’s desire for safe quality food, says Bartnes.

A few hundred farmers involved

200-300 farmers are involved in the action, which will affect the wholesale warehouses of the three major chains and result in fewer goods in many stores, says the Farmers’ Union leader to NTB

Asked how long the farmers are going to take action, he replied as follows:

– We have a good basis to undertake action on, and the organization is well equipped to carry out the operation.

– Our members are frustrated that we did not get a negotiation result, says Bartnes.

Furthermore, he adds:

– We hope consumers understand the action. At present we have not received any negative feedback.

Minister of Agriculture: – The actions might affect people’s access to food

Minister of Agriculture, Jon Georg Dale (Frp), is critical to the fact that the Norwegian Confederation of Agriculture (Bondelaget) plans to block the food chains’ wholesale warehouses in large parts of the country as of Friday.

-I make a note that farmers, who have received a offer in income growth exceeding that of others, now implement actions that will affect common people’s access to food, says Dale to NTB.

He believes farmers with this are attacking the same citizens, which they intend to send the tax bill to. This action is in order to meet their income requirements.

– Retail Workers, nurses and plumbers who have shown moderation in their wage demands, can not possibly experience it as reasonable that farmers who are promised a higher income hike than themselves, now makes life difficult for them, says the Minister of Agriculture.

ASKO: – We are an innocent third party, hindering delivery of food to stores

Norway group says they are an innocent party affected by a conflict between farmers and the state. They have not planned any measures against the announced blockades.

Norwegian Farmers’ Union has said that as of 6 am Friday they will block the transport of food from warehouses to Norgesgruppen, Coop and Rema.

Per Roskifte, informs NTB that they received information about the announced blockade on Thursday evening.

Roskifte is Communications Director in Norgesgruppen, who in turn own ASKO.

-We inform the warehouses tonight about this news, but we do not know anything about the scope nor timeframe.

– This is a statement of the Farmers’ Union against the state. We are an innocent party in this conflict.

– We take no position in the case, Roskifte states

Currently, Norgesgruppen has not planned to do anything to remove the blockades. They will wait with reactions until they have an overview of any specifics pertaining the action.

-We request all our employees to behave in an orderly and sensible manner when it comes to this. We hope the actions are of a time-limited nature and that it does not lead to unnecessary food waste due to disruption in logistics, he says.

Delivery of food to stores is resumed

Farmers protest against agricultural settlement Friday morning ended at 9 am – We have achieved what we wanted, says farmer’s team leader Lars Petter Bartnes.

– We have achieved what we wanted. We have gained attention to that Norwegian-produced food in stores is not a matter of course, says Bartnes to NTB.

The campaign was launched in 25 locations around the country Friday morning

– This is a planned shutdown of the operation after the blockade has been implemented according to plan, says Bartnes.

– We have not wanted to hit consumers and others who work in the food business.

– We ask for understanding if anyone has had problems as a result of the blockade, Bartnes says.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today