TALKING POINT Italians go on pasta strike to protest increases in price of wheat products

(13 Sep 2007) SHOTLIST 1. Parliament square with police and protesters carrying yellow flags 2. Farmers association waving yellow flags 3. Bread and pasta on stand 4. People pushing to get free pasta and free bread 5. Man holding bread 6. Wheat sack and flour on stand 7. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Stefano Masini, Farmers Association representative: “The theme is ’ wheat ’ which today is sold at 22 cents per kilo, but if we go back to 1985, more than 20 years ago, the price was 23 cents, so the price for the farmer/producer has gone down 1 cent. The price of bread instead has increased, today bread is sold at approximately 3 euros, while fresh pasta 4 euros per kilo, so this means that there in anomalous trend that requires checks and also diverse proposals to regulate the market.“ 8. Pan from Antitrust Authority for Trade and Competition building to protesters stand 9. Shoppers bags with pasta 10. Women at stand preparing pasta for distribution 11. People picking up shoppers bags filled with pasta 12. Pregnant woman picking up shoppers bag and leaving 13. Pasta distribution at the stand, women preparing shoppers bags 14. Man filling bag 15. Consumers Association caravan reading: “Shopping strike“ 16. Pasta boxes on stand 17. Pasta inside shoppers bag 18. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Carlo Rienzi, Consumers Association (CODACONS) representative: “ Every time that someone yells ’ wheat prices are going up ’ and instead it’s gone down 1 cent compared to 20 years ago everybody increases pasta and bread prices, and this is a criminal action because it’s simply speculation. There is no real reason for the increase of prices of such products.“ 19. Restaurant with tables on the street 20. Blackboard listing pasta dishes 21. Men eating fettuccine 22. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Giovanni, Vox Pop: “ Today is pasta strike and we eat it anyway! “ 23. Fettuccine dish STORYLINE Italians were called to join a pasta strike on Thursday to protest against what campaigners say is the inexplicable increase in the prices of wheat products. Outraged over hikes in pasta prices in particular, organisers and supporters of the strike have threatened to go for 24-hours without buying any pasta in the shops. To help relieve the Italians who decided to support the strike, consumer groups distributed free pasta and bread in Italian piazzas on Thursday. In Rome the pasta distribution took place in front of the Trade and Competition Antitrust authority. The consumers association together with the farmers association met with the President of the authority on Thursday to push for an investigation into the pasta industry, from production to the distribution of the final product. Earlier in the day protesters had demonstrated in front of the Italian parliament to demand the government intervention to solve this problem. Consumer groups warn that pasta prices - specifically that of spaghetti - have gone up by 27 percent - a shock for Italians used to a steady diet of spaghetti, fettuccine and ravioli. According to news reports, durum wheat, which is used to make pasta, is now being used as a bio-fuel, raising demand and therefore the price. But the farmers deny increasing wheat prices, claiming it’s the distributors fault, as Stefano Masini from the Farmers Association emphasised. Meanwhile, Italian consumer groups claim that grain prices have increased only slightly since 1985 and that the increases in prices of bread and pasta, have nothing to do with wheat prices, and call it wild speculation, as Carlo Rienzi from the consumer association, CODACONS pointed out. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: