Belgians urged to double down on fries, do national duty
Associated PressBRUSSELS — In a country that claims to be the real birthplace of the finger food that Americans have the temerity to call french fries, rescuing the potato industry might easily be a matter of Belgian national pride. So while a coronavirus lockdown keeps restaurants, bars and many of Belgium’s 5,000 frites stands closed, the trade association for the national potato industry is calling on the population at large to do its part by keeping deep fryers fired up on the home front. “Traditionally, Belgians eat fries once a week, and it’s always a festive moment,” Romain Cools, the secretary general of industry group Belgapom, said in a phone interview Tuesday. “Now, we are asking them to eat frozen fries twice a week at home.” The demand for frozen potatoes has nosedived in recent weeks, and the Belgian industry faces a possible loss of 125 million euros, if hundreds of tons of surplus potatoes don’t move this year, Cools said. Before the coronavirus reached Europe, the 2020 prospects looked bright for Belgium’s potato industry, the world’s largest exporter, following a 7.5% rise last year in the production of frozen fries.
History of this topic
Potatoes Are the Perfect Vegetable—but You’re Eating Them Wrong
Wired)
Belgians Urged to Eat Deep Fried Potatoes Twice a Week During COVID-19 Pandemic
News 18)
French fries expected to be an inch shorter this season following potato shortage in European countries
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