Cheap fruit and veg on sale today

FARMERS are to sell 40 tonnes of fresh fruit and veg direct to the public today, to protest against “phenomenal” supermarket profit margins and the low prices they are paid for their produce.

Producers from the Lot-et-Garonne have travelled to Paris for the initiative, organised by the Communist party and agriculture union Modef.

An open-air market has been set up on the Place de la Bastille in Paris until midday, with smaller fruit and veg sales in 25 towns in the Ile-de-France suburbs.

Modef is organising the day of action because it claims an agreement by the big supermarket chains in May to cut their profit margins on fruit and veg has not been honoured.

Union representative Raymond Girardi told France Info: “Half of producers are on the brink of bankruptcy while the big distributors such as Auchan are among the wealthiest companies in France.”

The initiative comes a day after dairy farmers reached a deal with the big cooperatives and distributors over prices.

After much negotiation, the two sides agreed on €330 per 1,000 litres until the end of September and €301 for the rest of the year. This represents an increase of about 10% on the second half of 2009.

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