Greek food protest

Pensioner power on the streets of Athens gives some indication of the strength of feeling over the soaring costs of food and fuel.

Greek pensioners rarely stage protests like this but now they say desperation has driven them to action.

SOUNDBITE: Yannis Koulouras, pensioner, saying (Greek):

"The prices of food products are out of control and it just can't go on. We have the lowest pensions in Europe and the highest prices."

Consumer inflation in Greece last month hit a six-year high of 4.4 per cent.

Studies by some consumer groups suggest the country is paying more than many of its European counterparts for the same items.

One study says Feta cheese, never absent from a Greek dinner table, costs 35 percent more in Athens than in Berlin.

The squeeze is now so tight consumer watchdogs say many Greeks are being forced to cut down on the national past-time of spending on entertainment and going out.

SOUNDBITE: Maria Sarantiti, Vice President, General Consumers Federation of Greece, saying (English):

"They have been concentrating on the very very necessary products for their survival. They stopped to go out. As you know, Greeks, they used to stay in the taverna until very late in the night,very late in the morning sometimes. Now if you go around to the tavernas they are empty."

Consumer groups are urging a boycott of pasta products next week in a further protest against the spiralling costs in the hope of forcing businesses to make reductions.

Organisers of a one-day boycott last week are claiming up to three quarters of the country responded.

Anger over high food prices has already sparked a wave of protests, predominantly in African, Asian, and South American countries

The United Nations predicts the world will see bumper harvests this year but it won't be enough to protect the poorest countries from food bills four times higher than at the start of the decade.

Paul Chapman, Reuters

squeeze
1. The act or an instance of squeezing.

2. An amount squeezed out: a squeeze of lemon.

3. A handclasp or brief embrace.

4. A group crowded together; a crush.

5. Informal A squeeze play.

6. Financial pressure caused by shortages or narrowing economic margins.
bumper - unusually large, fine, or abundant: a bumper crop