More than 500 million kilograms of potatoes in the Netherlands are at risk of rotting, in what farmers and anti-food-waste organisations describe as an unprecedented surplus. The crisis stems from a combination of factors: farmers planted heavily during a period of strong global demand, a favourable growing season produced bumper yields, and demand has since collapsed — partly due to reduced imports from the Middle East amid regional conflict, and partly due to disrupted trade flows caused by US tariffs. In response, anti-food-waste organisation No Waste Army launched a "National Potato Week" from 17 to 26 April, allowing Dutch consumers to collect potatoes directly from farms at heavily discounted prices — such as 10 kilograms for €3.65 — with thousands of families already participating and around 200,000 kilograms claimed so far.