The Aragonese political debate has waited these days with two unexpected protagonists: fruit and schools. Or rather, the fruit that is distributed in schools. Although Aragon has thousands and thousands of hectares full of fruit and vegetable trees and stands out in the production Of cherry, peach and apples, among other fruits, the farmers of the region have raised their voice to complain that in the educational centers of their villages, pieces that arrive from plantations located abroad are being distributed, in some cases thousands of kilometers.
The complaint the has launched the union of farmers and ranchers of Aragon (UAGA) and puts the finger in a yaga that already has taken to the collective To the street.
What happened? The complaint has been made public UAGA-COAG. In A statement Published yesterday the Agrarian Organization ensures that there are dining rooms of educational centers in Aragon in which fruit arrives from foreign countries is being distributed. Moreover, UAGA goes further and claims to have witnesses confirming that in several schools in the region oranges from Egypt and pears of South Africa have been delivered, cultivated to more than 10,000 kilometers of distance.
As a test, the association includes a photograph in which a box of pears is shown that indicates that its origin is South Africa, although there is no reference that reveals that the image was taken in a Aragon school.
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“Unfair competition”. In its statement UAGA claims to feel “outraged” by the importation of fruits that it is perfectly possible to find in the Spanish fields and questions that countries from which the merchandise is brought meet the sanitary, environmental and labor standards that the European Union does require that community farmers. “It involves the violation of the demands of the organization and the fruit growers that require the application of ‘mirror clauses’ to imports from third countries “, They emphasize From the collective.
UAGA-COAG wields two reasons that, in their opinion, condemn local farmers to suffer “unfair competition” against imports from other countries. The first is the strict regulation imposed by Brussels to European plantations on the use of pesticides, manipulation and conservation of fruit. The second is labor costs. While in Spain they go up every year, in Egypt, complaintthe minimum wage is 176 euros per month and in South Africa it is around 270.
Looking at the EU. The complaint of the UAGA has reached enough draft for the Aragon Government to have gone to give explanations. The regional press appointment Sources of the Ministry of Agriculture that clarify that the key is in the financing of the lunch and sowing program to schools: the funds start from the EU, with what they arrive accompanied by their standards.
When hiring the fruit supply, a geographical proximity requirement is not applied nor is it requested that the products be of community origin precisely to avoid a “discriminatory competitive advantage” in the process. The regional government argues that its role is that of intermediary.
And now what? The Regional Executive emphasize Also that the objective is to “consolidate healthy eating habits” among schoolchildren and that fruit and milk are distributed at times such as lunch and snack, not in dining services. The program is not exactly new, but now it is offered with mixed funds that combine a community contribution and another from Aragon.
With the EU money, a lot of 300,000 euros that is managed with the requirements of Brussels is paid. With the one contributed by the Aragon government, another 200,000 is financed that can handle with its own criteria. And the administration already guarantees that, “in line with its defense of the local product,” will give priority to proximity productions. The idea is to distribute cherries, apricot and nectarines, although they can also be replaced by apples or pears if requested by the centers.
Beyond schools. The fruit distribution program is important because it reaches hundreds of school points and thousands of children, but the “outrage” of Uaga-Coag is not explained only by the alleged distribution of pears of South Africa and oranges of Egypt instead of fruit grown in the Aragonese countryside. Farmers It has come out To the street On several occasions to claim decent prices, changes in community policy and greater controls to ensure that the merchandise that comes to the country conforms to the community demands with which they work.
“These parameters make it possible to import fruit from third countries profitable for certain companies and generate unfair competition at all levels,” the Agrarian Association in Your statement. “To end these practices, UAGA insists on claiming public administrations (regional, state and European) the regulation of markets and the recovery of the principle of community preference.”
Images | Federicoeth Photography (Flickr) and Uaga
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