Polish agriculture is under threat from an ideology that dehumanises people and prioritises the welfare of animals, says the agriculture minister, Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski.
His comments come amid a dispute over a proposed animal protection law, which has precipitated the potential collapse of the government and resulted in Ardanowski himself being suspended from the ruling party for voting against it.
Speaking at a harvest festival event in the courtyard of the presidential palace, the minister said that agriculture has been treated as a noble and respectable activity for thousands of years, but that this was now being questioned, reports Radio Maryja.
“Once the symbol of prosperity was a land flowing with milk and honey, but now there are ideologies that say milk is the effect of cows being raped and suffering when being milked, and honey is a product that humans steal from bees,” Ardanowski told his audience.
“There are ideologies that question the role of farming, the role of man who has dominion over creation, and dehumanise mankind,” continued the minister. “This is a threat with which we farmers are unable to cope, because it fundamentally, through a false axiology, through erroneous evaluation of good and evil, puts farmers in the situation of whose who must explain themselves and whose work is questioned.”
The minister also declared himself “moved” by the words of President Andrzej Duda that preceded his speech, and expressed his pleasure at the good state of Polish agriculture, despite warnings of dangers caused by drought.
“There is no shortage of food in Poland,” he said. “We can also share with other people in the world where food is scarce.”
Ardanowski’s comments came as he faces doubts over his future as agriculture minister due to his opposition to the proposed animal protection law. The legislation would, among other things, ban fur farming and eliminate most ritual slaughter of animals for meat, both of which are big export industries for Polish farms.
While the legislation has been strongly backed by the Law and Justice (PiS) party chairman – and Poland’s de facto leader – Jarosław Kaczyński, he has faced opposition from within his own coalition.
This included Ardanowski, who wrote to party members last week warning that passing the law could cause irreparable damage to PiS’s image among farmers. He then joined a handful of rebel MPs in voting against it on Friday, leading to their suspension from the party.
The bill was also opposed by PiS’s junior coalition partner, United Poland (Solidarna Polska), leading senior PiS figures to declare that the relationship has now ended and a minority government or early elections could follow.
Announcements regarding the future of the coalition, United Poland’s position within, and, according to reports, Ardanowski’s future are expected later today, following a meeting of PiS’s leadership.
Ardanowski’s remarks also follow a push for greater animal rights in recent years, including a growing number choosing vegetarian and vegan diets for ethical reasons.
Last year, Warsaw was ranked as the third most vegan-friendly city in the world. Around 40% of the population claim to be cutting back on meat, while 8.4% say they have quit completely, according to one poll.
But changing eating habits have been viewed by some conservative commentators and politicians as a threat to not only traditional Polish cuisine, but also to the country’s broader culture, tradition and even religion.
Former PiS foreign minister Witold Waszczykowski warned against the previous government’s “Marxist pattern” of creating “a new mix of cultures and races, a world of cyclists and vegetarians, who use only renewable sources of energy and fight against all forms of religion”.
Main image credit: Krystian Maj / KPRM
Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.
