Japanese farmers affected by radioactive contamination from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the wake of the 11 March earthquake and tsunami have protested outside the offices of plant owner TEPCO to demand compensation.
Around 350 people protested outside the Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) offices on Tuesday, waving cabbages and spinach in the air that they could not sell because of radioactivity concerns, reported the AFP.
The protesters – mainly farmers from Fukushima Prefecture near the power plant – were demanding TEPCO stop radioactive leaks from the damaged reactor and pay affected farmers for the damage to their businesses.
“My patience has run out. The nuclear crisis is totally destroying our farming business,” Katsuo Okazaki, a farmer who grows peaches and apples, told The China Post.
Rally organisers said the farmers must form a united front, and that the industry needed Japanese consumers to understand food from Fukushima Province was still safe to eat.
Efforts to clean up the reactor, which was heavily damaged by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami, have made slow progress, and authorities have banned the sale of milk, spinach, cabbage, broccoli and several other leafy vegetables from throughout Fukushima Prefecture.
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