Belgium Encourages Citizens to Eat Fries Twice a Week at Home to Stop 750K Tonnes of Potatoes From Going to Waste

By Syakir Roslan • 30 Apr 2020 in News

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Insider reports that farmers in Belgium are facing a surplus of potatoes around 750,000 tonnes, which are at risk of going to waste. To prevent this from happening, Belgian people are being asked to consume more fries at home on a daily basis.

Fries (or frites) are a staple food in Belgium. So much so that the Belgian government once petitioned to have them declared as a UNESCO cultural treasure and are prominently available in eateries across Belgium.

Unfortunately, orders for potatoes have severely plummeted due to restaurants, cafes and bars being closed since mid-March resulting in an excess of supply. To get around this problem, Belgapom – the association for the Belgian potato trade and processing industry, requested that people who were self-isolating at home increase their consumption of fries to at least twice a week.

It’s important to note that in Belgium, fries are typically enjoyed as take-out or street food. Despite some snack bars being open and serving take-out food, there are very few people out and about since most just stay at home unless they really need to head out. Fortunately for potato vendors and farmers, Belgapom has a couple of ideas to reduce potato wastage.

They plan to donate 25 metric tonnes of potatoes every week to food banks until the end of May. Additionally, GQ reports that other actions taken by the organisation include working with supermarkets to try and promote eating fries to Belgians as well as asking farmers to plant a reduced number of potatoes for the next season.

All things considered, eating fries twice a week seems like a real treat, especially if that means you’re helping out farmers – and your country by extension, to prevent wastage.