Mama Mia! There'll be no pasta in Italy on
13 September
Posted on 08/31/2007 10:24:27 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
On the 13 September, there will be no spaghetti, fettucine, farfalle or rigatoni in Italy, as the country goes on its first-ever pasta strike.
Mama Mia! There'll be no pasta in Italy on
13 September
Angry Italians are downing their forks in response to a 30 per cent price rise in the nation's favourite food, along with steep rises in the price of coffee, mozzarella, bread, biscuits and schoolbooks.
A second strike over the increase in the price of a cup of coffee in a cafe, from 70 euro cents (50p) to one euro, has also been threatened.
According to Italy's four largest consumer groups, the average household in the Bel Paese will be stung for an extra £700 this year on their shopping.
"Giving up pasta for the day will be a symbolic gesture," said a spokesman for the consumer groups. "Italians should not buy any pasta that day, and try their best not to eat it at home."
Most Italians eat pasta at least once a day, and consume around 54 kilograms over the course of the year.
According to a recent study, many of them prefer pasta to all other pleasures. A survey by SWG, a polling company, found that nearly half of all Italian men and women would never give it up and would rather have a plate of spaghetti than sex.
Consequently, the strike-organisers are prepared for serious withdrawal symptoms. Emergency stands offering free bread and milk will be set up in all major Italian cities for those in need of carbohydrates.
The pasta-makers said the reason for the 30 per cent price rise was a shortage of wheat because farmers were switching to produce crops for the biofuel industry. Currently, a half-kilogram (1.1lb) pack of pasta costs around 70 euro cents (50p) in Italy and 70p to £1.10 in the UK.
However, a spokesman for the consumer groups said the rises were rampant speculation by the producers.
"The statistics show the price of grain has now fallen, but the price of bread, for example, keeps rising, without any link to the wheat price. According to our analysis, bread, fresh pasta and deserts have gone up by 12, 20 and 70 per cent respectively in the last year, while milk has increased by over 300 per cent."
The threat of the strike drew has drawn a rebuke from the prime minister, Romano Prodi. "There is no justification for the alarms over price rises," he said. In fact, he said the prices "are in some cases going down substantially".
He warned, however, that the "the price of prime materials should not be influencing, in a significant way, the final price that consumers pay. There are ample margins for improving efficiency to recuperate the money, just as occurs in other European countries."
Biofuels. Totally bogus racket.
That’ll teach someone, I guess.
my reply has nothing to do with pasta, but this past summer, i have watched the Godfather (all 3) for the first time, several times (it was running on AMC or A&E)... the Godfather is now my all-time favorite movie... and i cannot believe i waited so long to watch it... i was only 7 when the first one came out, and 9 when the second came out... (the second one is my favorite because of Robert Dinero)... i cannot get enough of these movies... btw—before my recent Godfather fetish, my all-time favorite movie was Enchanted April... very different from The Godfather...
Get the DVD so you can see them unedited.
And what did take you so long?
But then Prodi proves himself hopeless by dropping this gem:
He warned, however, that the "the price of prime materials should not be influencing, in a significant way, the final price that consumers pay.
Raw materials don't influence the price of finished goods? How can anyone with two functioning brain cells make this statement?
How revolting are they?
Great minds ....
E-85 will have us all eating ramen noodles twice a day.
i think i was afraid to watch them... i thought they would be too violent... i don’t know... i guess i had heard about the horses head and well, the mafia just seems so... icky... but i did not realize that the Corleones had their own set of ethics... no narcotics—too dirty, etc... and i didn’t realize that their goal was to be legitimate... it was sad when Vito told Michael he had run out of time... and i loved the scene where Vito was playing in the tomato garden with his grandson... these are fantastic movies... and young Robert DiNero was just so... well, i have no words... there are times when a Godfather would come in handy...
“That’s right, they stink on ice!”
“.....nearly half of Italian men and women would rather eat pasta than have sex”.
No wonder that their population is in free fall.
“A survey by SWG, a polling company, found that nearly half of all Italian men and women would never give it up and would rather have a plate of spaghetti than sex”
Ah there’s a problem here. I have heard they aren’t procreating. It must be because they are eating too much pasta.Spaghetti better than sex? Not a chance!
This strike will last about 2 weeks. Italians can’t survive without pasta.
“Half of all Italians would rather have spaghetti than sex”??
Man, that must be some damn good spaghett! Or maybe it’s just the women saying that.
Actually, the “strike” is only for one day, and probably won’t be widely observed even for that day. remember the big “gas strike” here recently? I never heard how that came out, but I can guess.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.