"protests" news and stories

Farmers everywhere are being squeezed by high production costs and low prices for their products. Even malting barley farmers in Ireland are being hit, but they're trying to do something about it.

The Irish farmers, about 400 of them, converged on the famous Guinness brewery in Dublin to protest their situation. The farmers want the brewer to do more to support the industry (which I suppose means supporting higher grain prices?). However, Guinness maintains that they get their grain from an agricultural supplier and has little say in the prices the farmers are paid.

A company spokesperson says that the beer maker also has to do what it can to compete with other beverage choices in a poor global economy. I feel bad for Guinness being caught in the middle. They won't have the grain they need if all the farmers go under, but they also prefer the lower grain prices to keep their own prices down. What do you think about the situation.

Maybe you never watch tv, listen to the radio or talk to your neighbors. Maybe you never leave your house and have food delivered to your door. But if you're the least bit aware of current events, then you know that today, May 1, 2006, there were rallies and protests for immigration reform in the US. Many businesses were completely closed to allow employees to attend the rallies. Many of those businesses are food-related.

Here in LA, the biggest impact was the masses of people in the streets, but I did notice that many restaurants in my neighborhood were closed in support.

Did your stomach feel the impact of a day without an immigrant?

The confectioners' union in Iran ordered the change of the name of a popular breakfast pastry from "Danish pastry" to "Rose of Muhammad", reports Yahoo! News. Bakeries across the country were ordered to cover up signs advertising Danishes and only refer to them by their new name. One bakery owner said "This is a punishment for those who started misusing freedom of expression to insult the sanctities of Islam" though because the name "Danish" is not trademarked and no one receives royalties from its use, it is unlikely that anyone (except confused customers) is actually feeling punished by this change. Danish companies are feeling the pinch as some countries boycott other Danish products, however. This renaming is reminiscent of the attempted change of "French fries" to "freedom fries" in the United States in 2003 - a change which stuck in newspaper headlines longer than it did on menu boards.

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