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French citizens are being asked to fulfill their patriotic duty and eat more cheese to help the dairy industry work down a massive surplus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Sales of certain cheeses have dropped as much as 60% since cheese makers can no longer sell to restaurants and open-air markets were forced to close, said France Terre de Lait, the French dairy industry, in a statement.
The industry said it’s calling on citizens “to eat cheese in solidarity with our producers of Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Cantal, Camembert.” The campaign is dubbed “Fromagissons” — or, “Let’s act for cheese.”
“The situation is critical and requires a rapid increase in consumption,” Damien Lacombe, president of the dairy collective Sodiaal, told the French agriculture magazine Agri Culture.
During the nationwide lockdown, consumers shunned “pleasure” foods like traditional cheeses and instead stocked up on dairy products deemed more essential, like milk, butter and cream.
There was a massive cheese surplus in April, according to Michel Lacoste, president of CNAOL, the national council of dairy appellations.
Of the 2,000 tons of cheese that should have been sold during the month, 1,500 remained unsold, Lacoste told the magazine. If not distributed by May 11, the cheese would expire, he said.
The patriotic call echoes one in Belgium, where citizens were asked last week to eat more fries to help reduce a massive potato surplus caused by the pandemic.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced a nationwide plan last week to gradually bring the country out of a six-week lockdown starting Monday to stem the risk of economic collapse.
The coronavirus has sickened 169,583 people in France, killing 25,204.
A version of this Fox News report previously appeared at NYPost.com.
