Netherlands: stop growing food!

The Left hates people, except themselves. They claim to love the Earth, but I am skeptical. I think they love the Earth in order to justify hating and ruling over people.

Advertisement

As I wrote yesterday, the Leftists want human beings to subsist off of bugs, because Gaia or something. This isn’t going to happen in our lifetimes, because, well, people. We don’t want to eat bugs. But they are pushing us in that direction, and one of the prime methods is restricting the food supply.

Don’t underestimate the tyrannical nature of the Left. When they are in power they will run roughshod over human rights and common sense. This happens everywhere the Left rules, but it has gone particularly far in the EU-dominated Europe. Western European leaders look at San Francisco and see something to aspire to, not avoid. Except, perhaps, the homeless problem. That would suck for the Elite™.

One of the truly anti-human policies the EU is imposing is a policy to reduce “nitrogen pollution,” which is another word for fertilizer and to a lesser extent animal excrement. Now it is true that excessive use of fertilizer and improper disposal of animal excrement can be a bad thing, but the European solution to dealing with the problem is one that would surprise any normal person: the bureaucracy wants farmers to quit producing food.

This policy has understandably ticked off farmers, who are being forced to get out of the business of growing food. It also should piss off every one of the 8 billion human beings and their descendants, because we would like to eat something other than crickets and mealworms. But it is the habit of normal people to assume that their leaders are not malicious evil folks bent on destroying civilization, so the hue and cry so far is mostly among farmers.

Advertisement

The Netherlands, one of the world’s largest food producers, is shutting down large parts of their agricultural sector. The government is making it compulsory to sell farms to the government. They still support using food as fuel to burn, of course, and ethanol is A-OK and non-polluting. But food? Food bad.

To put this in perspective, The Netherlands is the 2nd-largest exporter of agricultural products in the world, making it a vital part of the food chain in the world. Agriculture also makes up 17.5% of Dutch exports, making the sector vital to the economy of the country. None of that matters though, because food bad. Very bad. Eat bugs.

So this is a big deal. We are not talking about banning gardens or something. We are talking about massive amounts of food that will be removed from the world market.

The Dutch government plans to buy and close down up to 3,000 farms near environmentally sensitive areas to comply with EU nature preservation rules.

The Netherlands is attempting to cut down its nitrogen pollution and will push ahead with compulsory purchases if not enough farms take up the offer voluntarily.

Farmers will be offered a deal “well over” the worth of the farm, according to the government plan that is targeting the closure of 2,000 to 3,000 farms or other major polluting businesses.

Earlier leaked versions of the plan put the figure at 120 per cent of the farm’s value but that figure has not yet been confirmed by ministers.

“There is no better offer coming,” Christianne van der Wal, nitrogen minister, told MPs on Friday. She said compulsory purchases would be made with “pain in the heart”, if necessary.

Advertisement

To be clear, not all agriculture will be shut down by the Dutch. And it is not only the Dutch who are shutting down agricultural production in Europe. It is happening across the continent due to EU regulations.

Rather, it is in The Netherlands that the pushback has been most noticeable, largely due to the fact that it is easier for farmers to make their protests very annoying to the powers-that-be. Protests are happening across Europe, but due to the Dutch’s geography it is easier for farmers to throw sand into the gears and get noticed.

Why does every European baddie look like a Bond villain, by the way? It seems to be a rule. On this side of the pond they all look like Gavin Newsom and PM Castro…I mean Trudeau…in Canada. Hollywood rules apply in North America, I guess.

Huge protests have swept the Netherlands triggered by the introduction of new laws designed to cut nitrogen and ammonia emissions, by up to 95 per cent in certain areas, from its agricultural sector.

Inspired by the “freedom convoys” which began in Canada and saw truck drivers bring major roads to a standstill in protest at Covid vaccine mandates, tractors are blockading supermarkets and industrial complexes across the Netherlands, at a cost of tens of millions of euros to businesses and the economy.

The demonstrations, some of which have turned violent, materialise with little notice and are organised via secretive channels on the Telegram messaging app.

They are a sign of the growing discontent among European farmers faced with spiralling fertiliser costs owing to the war in Ukraine and demands to cut down on emissions. In Britain, unions have urged Downing Street to give them more time to overhaul their businesses to make them more sustainable. 

Advertisement

One of the claims being made to justify the agricultural shutdowns is that “biodiversity” needs protection in The Netherlands. It’s hard to argue that of all places The Netherlands is filled with untouched wilderness to protect. Given the massive reshaping of the land over the centuries, including the reclamation of vast swathes of land from the ocean, it is impossible to say what is native to the country and what has resulted from human intervention. The biodiversity excuse of total BS.

Also, there’s this:

The Dutch cabinet also wants to draw up a long term plan for the future of agriculture with farmers, environmental groups and local government.

The voluntary buyout scheme was “the only way to finally create opportunities for the construction of homes, the construction of new infrastructure and for projects to make the Netherlands more sustainable in the shortest possible time,” said Ingrid Thijssen, chairman of VNO-NCW, an employers’ federation in the Netherlands.

In other words, it is not the environment itself that is being protected; the land will be repurposed for uses the government finds more amenable–especially higher density housing to put human beings into filing cabinet-type housing. The environment is merely an excuse.

All of this is part of the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset,” in which society is completely reshaped in more socialist, and especially more Elite™-friendly lines.

The vast expansion of government powers over the decades has enabled this sort of planned economy building, and the COVID emergency powers have put the plans into overdrive.

Advertisement

The Canadian truckers and the European farmers are on the front lines, but they need our support to actually fight back. We cannot let the WEF, the EU, and American Leftists to succeed.

And make no mistake, right now they are winning this battle.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Jazz Shaw 7:20 PM | March 18, 2024
Advertisement
Advertisement