From emissions scammers to a green electric flagship company: Volkswagen wants to give itself an ecological image. This includes meat-free food options. This does not go down well with some farmers. They have founded an unusual protest movement.
German farmers are rumbling. The protest is still rather subtle. One or the other may have noticed that tractors are parked on motorway bridges in the evenings, with warning lights flashing. Some with posters showing farmers solidarity with their colleagues in the Netherlands. That’s where the bear tap-dance: Because of the stricter anti-fertilizer laws of the Dutch government, thousands of farmers are practically forced to give up their farms. The result: massive demonstrations and blockades by tractors.
In the Netherlands, many shelves remain empty due to the protests. Meanwhile, the police are cracking down. In one incident, police officers fired live ammunition at a 16-year-old farmer in his tractor, Dutch media reports. In the population, many show solidarity with the protesters.
There have been no such protests in Germany so far, although various new organic regulations also affect many farmers here. Among other things, they should fertilize significantly less. But it’s not just new laws that drive many farmers crazy. The increasingly “green” policies of many corporations are also causing explosives – for example at the car manufacturer VW: “Meat-free canteen, dairy-free stadium – unfortunately VW today stands for ‘vegan madness’. We stand by our farmers and that’s why we don’t buy a VW anymore,” says the website “VW-Panne.de”, which is operated by the association “Freie Bauern”. Hundreds of farmers have already signed the boycott call.
The bone of contention is the meat-free company canteen since August last year and a milk campaign in the stadium of VW-financed VfL Wolfsburg in April – temporarily there was oat milk in addition to normal milk. Nevertheless, a hot topic for some farmers: “With the cheap marketing lie that animal products are generally harmful to the climate, the exhaust gas fraudster Volkswagen is doing greenwashing at the expense of the many honest farming families who keep farm animals and provide our population with high-quality food during the crisis”, says Cord Meyer from the “Free Farmers” in Lower Saxony.
He calls for a dialogue with VW boss Herbert Diess – and threatens a VW boycott: “I can’t imagine that our members and their friends will then buy a new VW. And of course, for those who want to finish using their car, there are ways to deface the emblem so that nobody has to feel ashamed anymore. “
In a “life hack video” the farmers show how they imagine it: The VW logo of a Golf Variant is painted over with black paint so that only a “V” remains; as a victory sign for the success of their protests – hoped for by the farmers.
In an interview with FOCUS Online, Reinhard Jung, spokesman for the “Free Farmers”, makes it clear that the action against VW is ultimately more aimed at politics, which lacks “respect for the farming profession”. The growing trend towards vegan food is taking away added value from farmers, but above all it is not what the manufacturers are promising: “These are actually highly processed, unnatural products. With a purely vegan agriculture, one would not be able to feed a sufficient number of people,” says Jung.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen rejects the accusation of “free farmers” and considers the criticism to be largely irrelevant. In an email that is available to FOCUS Online, the group explains: “We offer a selection so that our employees can decide according to their own wishes and preferences: sometimes do without meat, completely without meat or just not without meat. We don’t want to patronize our employees. However, we are aware of our responsibility as an employer, provide information about healthy eating and adjust what is on offer in the company restaurants if eating habits change. (…) We are convinced of our approach and feel absolutely confirmed by the positive reaction of our employees. In fact, according to VW, meat dishes are still on the menu in 66 of the 67 company restaurants.
Farmer Reinhard Jung is apparently aware that the action against VW ultimately serves as a lightning rod. Some allegations against agriculture are not entirely wrong either: “We reject the mass import of cheap South American soy, often genetically modified. Likewise, the construction of very large fattening systems, which are mostly operated by national investors, not by farmers. We defend ourselves against such forms of animal husbandry,” says Jung. Nevertheless, one should not let rural animal husbandry be badmouthed – “especially not by a car company.”
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