Law and Justice MEPs voted on Thursday in favor of the “European protein strategy”, which states, among other things, “the growing potential of protein from insects for human consumption, and especially for animal feeding.” Among them are politicians who, at the beginning of this year, loudly protested against the actions of EU institutions regarding “eating worms”. “Himalayas of hypocrisy” – commented MEP Łukasz Kohut from the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D).
On Thursday, the European Parliament session discussed, among other things, the “European protein strategy.” 307 MEPs voted in favor of the text of the resolution, which states, among other things, “the growing potential of insect proteins for human consumption, and especially for animal feed.”
From Poland, these included members of the United Right parliament who belong to the group of European Conservatives and Reformists, including Joachim Brudziński, Patryk JakiBeata Kempa or Beata Szydło.
Beata Szydło and Patryk Jaki in the European ParliamentAlexei Witwicki/Forum
They voted for and protested against. “Himalayas of Hypocrisy”
This attitude of MEPs draws particular attention, especially since at the beginning of this year many United Right politicians protested against the actions of EU institutions regarding “eating worms”. Representatives of Sovereign Poland (then Solidarity Poland) even called for the preparation of an “anti-worm act”“.
“I have already used up my portion of meat for this year. From tomorrow only worms,” wrote Patryk Jaki in February, sharing a photo of himself with a steak.
MEP Łukasz Kohut from the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) drew attention to this attitude of United Right politicians during the vote.
“Remember when the authorities attacked the opposition with worms? Today in the European Parliament, PiS admitted that there is ‘the potential of protein from insects for human consumption’,” he wrote on Thursday on social media. The entry was accompanied by the hashtag #HimalayasHypocrisy.
Patryk Jaki explained in an interview with gazeta.pl that he initially voted for the resolution by mistake, but later corrected his vote.
What’s the deal with “eating worms”?
The topic of “eating worms” heated up Internet users after cricket powder was allowed on the EU food market this year, but over time new threads appeared in the discussion.
One of the most frequently repeated falsehoods was that people would now eat insects and not even know it.
The case was described in detail by Konkret24. In January he denied fake news that, with the consent of the European Union, there will be no information on food products about adding cricket powder to the composition.
READ MORE ON KONKRET24: Will we eat insects now without knowing it? No, the composition of the product must be known
Over time, politicians, especially those trying to make political capital on this topic, also joined the discussion, led mainly by Internet users on social media. There was also a lot of falsehood here. A narrative began to circulate in public opinion that European Union she wanted to “force us to eat worms.”
Konkret24 explained that Semi-finished products made from insects have been used in the food industry in Poland for a long time.
READ MORE ON KONKRET24: Does the EU want to “force us to eat worms” or “we already eat them”? And what is cochineal?
tvn24.pl, Konkret24, gazeta.pl
Main photo source: Alexei Witwicki/Forum