An unusual convoy of 300 tractors flooded the streets of Vienna, Austria today, with participants asking restaurants and supermarkets to report the origin of the ingredients they use in their dishes and processed products.
“The absence of mandatory origin labelling puts the very existence of our farmers at risk,” according to Hannes Royer, an organic farmer.
With more than 27% of its crops registered as organic, Austria is the EU champion of this type of production.
But it has for years recorded higher inflation than the eurozone average, which weakens its agricultural sector based on small, high-quality farms.
The EU-Mercosur agreement, the pressure of the climate crisis, rising diesel and fertiliser costs and stagnating farm prices now threaten the entire sector, which is complaining of increasing bureaucracy and insufficient incomes.
Informing consumers about the origin of food is already mandatory in supermarkets for unprocessed products and, from 2023, in group dining.
But this is not the case in restaurants, nor does it apply to processed products proposed in supermarkets.
Hiding the place of production of imported products “massively distorts competition and punishes those who supply quality products”, argue Austrian farmers involved in the “Land Schafft Leben” association, which was founded in March.
“Consumers have a right to the truth on their plate. Those who conceal their origin are deliberately taking away their freedom to decide,” according to Royer.
