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| ATHENS, GREECE - FEBRUARY 17: Jorge Christou, a 41-year-old musician who is homeless and suffers from HIV, eats a free meal at a drop-in shelter on February 17, 2012 in Athens, Greece. It is estimated that over 20,000 Greeks are homeless with 10,000 sleeping on the streets of Athens. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife) |
The European nation of Greece appears to be sliding ever so progressively into the abyss of total collapse, as illustrated by a recent government measure aimed at feeding the growing hordes of hungry, unemployed Greeks across the nation.
A report translated into English from Voz Populi explains that, under the new law, Greek merchants will now be permitted to sell expired foods at a reduced rate to the nation’s poorest citizens, who are becoming increasingly unable to afford basic necessities.
Since price control efforts have largely failed thus far, as have austerity measures aimed at reviving the nation’s economy, the Greek government is grasping at straws to maintain some illusion of normalcy in a country where the unemployment rate has now breached 25 percent overall, and more than 54 percent among the youth population aged 15 to 24.
“We are sinking in a swamp of recession and it’s getting worse,” Dimitris Asimakopoulos, Head of the Greek small business and industry association GSEVEE, is quoted as saying by phillyBurbs.com. “180,000 businesses are on the brink and 70,000 of them are expected to close in the next few months.”
As far as the expired food situation is concerned, products with both a month and day expiration date will be permitted to sell for an additional week, while products with a “best before” date that contains only a month and year marker will be permitted to sell for an additional month. Food products with only a year indicator will be allowed to sell for an additional quarter year, under the new law.
Because virtually all aspects of the Greek economy are unraveling, though, the measure is unlikely to make much of a difference in reducing overall food costs, as demand will still likely outpace supply. And repeated efforts to bail out the nation at the EU level continue to spark massive protests and labor strikes, which is only exacerbating the problem even further.
In defiance of proposed austerity measures that would further increase taxes on Greece’s already-struggling private business sector, 70,000 protesters in Athens and at least 17,000 protesters in the town of Thessalonika recently took to the streets. The protests resulted in massive public service shutdowns, grounded flights, hospital and business closures, and public transport failures. (heyellowbrickroadfreeblog)
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