Everyone is talking about the potato. “Unexpected potato blessing for Berlin”the taz headlined when it became known that a Saxon agricultural company was giving away 4,000 tons of potatoes. The website, where over 1,300 interested parties applied, read as if the entire lot would be delivered in Berlin.
The joy was big. But it wasn’t just consent. An organic farmer from Brandenburg complained in the taz interview that the campaign would hurt regional producers “kicked in the shinAfter all, the Brandenburg farmers could now only sell significantly less to Berlin.
But that’s not the case. Of the 4,000 tons, only about 200 go to Berlin. It was a misunderstanding, as it now turns out. The first shipment arrived last week and the second is currently being distributed. This will help those in need, kindergartens and neighborhood initiatives, and the Berliner Tafel also purchased 22 tons. The distribution campaign is organized by the Berlin morning post and the eco search engine Ecosia. It is said that the drivers reported that people were already lining up when the trucks arrived.
And what happens to the remaining 3,800 tons? Call Hans Joachim von Massow, managing director of the Saxon Osterland Agrar. His team’s idea was to put the potatoes to good use instead of destroying them. The company was stuck with potatoes, the Agria variety. The buyer, who had already paid in advance, no longer wanted them due to the extremely good harvest year.
Minimum purchase quantity: one ton
“Around 70 tons are going to the front in Ukraine,” says von Massow. 60 tons would be distributed within Saxony primarily to those in need. A farmer also came who normally supplies his village, but was unable to deliver this year. It is hoped that there will be more buyers from the farm; the minimum purchase quantity is one ton. Whatever is left at the end goes into starch production or back into the field as fertilizer. As a farmer, he is reluctant to put food into the biogas plant, says von Massow.
The fact that there was also criticism of the campaign did not go unnoticed by him. There was even a vote on the agricultural news portal “Agrarheute”. “52 percent of 1,414 participants think the campaign is great,” said von Massow on Wednesday afternoon, referring to the website. “This is a great result, also because farmers often complain.” No matter whether the harvest is good or bad, there is always a reason. “The common saying is that February is the worst month for farmers because they only have 28 days to complain,” says the managing director with a laugh.
What really bothers him is a report Berliner Zeitung. The Brandenburg Farmers’ Association was quoted unquestioningly with the accusation that Osterland Agrar was specifically preparing to enter the Berlin market with the gift campaign. “This is bad journalism, the newspaper should have at least asked us.”
The Osterland Group has been converting its operations to organic for a few years. Regardless of whether organic or conventional potato production, von Massow is sure that the entire industry will benefit from the gift campaign. “The potato is therefore present in the consciousness.” Even with people who didn’t get anything for free. “They eat more potatoes than pasta, and all farmers benefit from that.”