About 150 farmers protested in Halle on Friday afternoon against supermarket chain Colruyt, which they believe is buying up too much agricultural land. The farmers moved in a column and with five tractors to Colruyt’s headquarters.
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Over a course of just under two kilometres, the procession traveled from Bevrijdingsplein in Halle, via the administrative headquarters of the supermarket chain, to the logistics center and warehouse on Zinkstraat. A load of soil was unloaded from a tractor in the parking lot of the administrative center and on Zinkstraat.
The protesting farmers carried placards and cardboard signs with slogans such as ‘Whoever wants to possess the earth will reap anger’, ‘Farmers angry about land grabbing’, and ‘Colruyt killed me’.
The approximately 150 farmers raise what they call ‘land grabbing’ by Colruyt. A recent investigation by news website Apache revealed that Colruyt has bought over 175 hectares of agricultural land and pastures in recent years.
‘This drives up prices for young farmers’, says Wim Moyaert, coordinator of Boerenforum. ‘The land is becoming scarce and unaffordable. We fear that it will only be possible to lease on temporary and expensive contracts from large players such as Colruyt, making it no longer feasible to continue farming.’
– Photo: ISOPIX
Boerenforum and the other participating organizations call on the government to put an end to the practices. To this end, they want, among other things, a ground observatory, so that it becomes clear at a glance who is purchasing the land at what prices, and how the lease prices are regulated. ‘The investing companies are not doing anything illegal, the law allows this,’ explains Moyaert. ‘So the policy must also be adjusted.’
Colruyt says in a response that it is buying up the agricultural land, precisely with the intention of allowing it to remain agricultural land. ‘If agricultural land is sold on the real estate market, it is often given a different destination and no more farming can be done on it’, says Saskia De Block, responsible for agriculture at Colruyt. ‘Our intention is: agricultural land remains agricultural land.’
The supermarket chain also ensures that it does not act ‘aggressively’. ‘We look at file by file and see what the market prices are.’
It was no coincidence that the action took place on Friday, the International Day of the Peasants’ Struggle.
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