Interest association LTO calls on farmers who block distribution centers to stop before the food supply is endangered. “It is possible that actions around distribution centers affect the food supply and also affect the elderly and vulnerable who do not receive groceries,” says chairman Sjaak van der Tak. “Don’t take this action for too long.”
Traffic jams arose in various parts of the country on Monday because farmers blocked the highway or drove slowly with agricultural vehicles. In Drenthe this happened on the A28 and A37. Also, several distribution centers – in Drenthe it concerns Gieten and Beilen – are blocked with tractors, as a result of which empty shelves could be seen in supermarkets today. Supermarket umbrella organization CBL warns of millions of euros in damage if the farmers continue their blockades.
LTO calls the blockades of distribution locations and also highways an unacceptable way of campaigning. “A vast majority of our members, like the rest of the Netherlands, look with disapproval at such actions, which are inappropriate and illegal,” explains a spokesperson.
The spokesman indicates that farmers and horticulturists are “justifiably very concerned about what is coming their way”, and that most of them express this in a good way. According to the spokesperson, there were also examples today of farmers demonstrating within the law, for example by talking to local administrators at town halls. “That is within your right, but a blockade is not. We reject that, you have to comply with the law like everyone else.”
LTO also believes that the actions will not help the farmers, who are dissatisfied with the cabinet’s nitrogen plans. “It has to be about the content,” says the spokesperson. “We desperately need the support of society to come to better policy with the provinces. But it must be about that policy and not about the actions.”