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Farmers around the world are facing an excess supply of potatoes right now, because many restaurants have been closed and the amount of fries being ordered has reduced dramatically. 

In [places like Belgium](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/29/belgian-patriots-in-friteries-cant-eat-their-way-out-of-the-potato-crisis-220996), [Canada, and other regions](https://nationalpost.com/life/food/canadians-urged-to-eat-more-fries-as-200-million-pounds-of-potatoes-become-latest-food-victim-of-covid-19), people are being encouraged to order more fries to help reduce the amount that might get wasted. 

## There are hundreds of thousands of tons of potatoes that are at risk of being wasted now.  
<center></center>Without a place to sell those products, some farmers have taken it upon themselves to simply give it away for free. 

In the image above you can see many cars lining up for a recent opportunity in Seattle, that had farmers giving away 200k pounds of potatoes that had been donated from growers around Washington. The initiative was put on thanks to help from the Emergency Food Network. 

<center>https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/11/29/01/00/potatoes-1866415_960_720.jpg</center>

> "We started dumping potatoes [Tuesday] as we have no home for them because of this COVID-19 disaster,... The potato supply chain has definitely been turned up side down. [If you would like a few bags](https://wset.com/news/coronavirus/farm-in-idaho-gives-away-potatoes-for-free-so-they-wouldnt-go-to-waste) come on by." - Ryan Cranney, owner of Cranney Farms

Farmers in Idaho have also been giving away excess potatoes for free to anyone who is interested in grabbing a bag or two. 

Not only would those potatoes mostly have gone to waste anyways, but they are doing something good to give back to their community as well during these times that so many are struggling. 

## In Idaho they are giving away more than *[2 million potatoes](https://ksltv.com/435596/free-potatoes/)*. 

<center></center>Other farmers have also been [forced to dump other supplies](https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/2020/04/01/coronavirus-forces-dairy-farmers-dump-milk-wisconsin-covid-19/5108609002/) like milk too, with Wisconsin dairy groups facing an excess supply that they asked for federal help to deal with. 

Those farmers who are struggling to get rid of their products also [haven't been too happy](https://www.midwestfarmreport.com/2020/04/23/over-350-reports-of-stores-still-limiting-dairy-purchases/) with the limits that many retailers have placed on purchases, this could be negatively impacting their livelihood. They want retailers to remove those signs that limit purchases and instead put up signs that *encourage community support for those farmers*, asking people to buy more dairy products. 

Already, in some circumstances you might have seen your local stores remove those limitations already, as the supply chain for toilet paper, and other items, continues to improve around the world. 

Pics:
[pic1](https://www.kiro7.com/)
[pic2](pixabay.com)