Greek farmers are left with a surplus of 30,000 kilos of organic watermelons—who can help?
Two Greek farmers are stuck with 30,000 kilos of organic watermelons on their hands. The watermelons were supposed to go to Austria, but that fell through at the last minute. Stijn Markusse read the message on LinkedIn and didn’t hesitate for a moment. With his No Waste Army platform, he is taking action right now. Will you help too?
No Waste Army—you may have heard that name before. Together with Boerschappen, this organization is taking a nationwide stand against food waste. We think that’s a great initiative. For example, they helped the nuns of Sint Catharinadal in Oosterhout get rid of their wine surplus and helped Farmer Cornelis with his surplus of 100,000 kilos of carrots.
Help the farmer, eat watermelon
Gerasimos Karantinos and Pantelis Petropoulos from the Greek town of Lechaina have been growing all kinds of fruits and vegetables for decades, including organic seedless watermelons. Normally, these are sold to an Austrian supermarket at this time of year, but the fine weather has caused the local harvest to get underway sooner than usual. As a result, the supermarket switched to selling Austrian watermelons earlier.
The consequences for the Greek farmers are serious, says Stijn Markusse from Breda: “In the first week of July alone, Gerasimos and Pantelis already had to throw away more than 20,000 kg of watermelons, and if we don’t do anything, another 30,000 kilos will now be added to that. Even though there is absolutely nothing wrong with the watermelons. On the contrary. They’re perfect. So, as far as I’m concerned, throwing them away is not an option!”
30,000 kilos of organic watermelons
A rescue campaign has been organized quickly once again, and everyone can help. There are two ways to do this. You can order watermelons via www.nowastearmy.nl/watermelons and pick them up on Wednesday, July 24, at one of the eight pick-up points across the country, or you can donate watermelons to the Food Bank.
What to do with watermelon
Watermelon has the same effect as Viagra, which in itself may be a good reason to buy some watermelon. And then: just eat it as is, or go wild and make watermelon vodka punch. Or make a deliciously refreshing mozzarella and watermelon salad. Or a twist on it: a salad with watermelon, feta and mint. IRRESISTIBLE!
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