Farmers give free fruit:

Thousands of Argentines stood in line for free fruit next to the Casa Rosada presidential palace on Tuesday, while growers handed out 10,000 kilos of produce as a way of protesting price distortions and double-digit inflation they say crushes profits.

The queues lasted for hours, twisting around the Plaza de Mayo with lowincome families eager to get apples and pears from growers who are losing money with each kilo they sell.

“There’s a problem with the price structure of apples and pears in particular. Growers are losing money and at the same time the average family is paying an exorbitant price at the supermarket,” said Raul Robin, spokesman for the Confederation of Medium Sized Businesses of Argentina.

It costs growers 4.5 pesos ($0.30) to produce a kilo of apples, but they get paid only 3 pesos per kilo, according to federation data. (RTRS)