Polish farmer loses 150 tonnes of potatoes after viral post falsely claims they were free

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A farmer in Poland says he lost his whole crop when a false claim on social media—that he was giving away free potatoes—led to people taking everything overnight.

A misunderstanding in the Polish village of Dąbrowica led to a surprising event. A rumor started online that a local farmer was giving away his potatoes, and by the next day, about 150 tons of potatoes – worth around €15,000 or $16,200 – had been taken, according to Brussels Signal.

I couldn’t believe what happened to Piotr Gryta, the distillery owner! He’d just bought a bunch of potatoes and left them in his field overnight. Then, he came back to find everyone in town helping themselves – not just grabbing a potato or two, but loading up cars, tractors, and trucks! He said he wouldn’t mind if someone took a small sack, but this was ridiculous. He wants them to come forward and sort things out, or he’s going to have to involve the police. It’s a crazy situation!

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Viral “free potato” rumor costs farmer thousands

I heard the craziest story from a local official, Tadeusz Łapka! He actually got a call saying there were free potatoes available, and when he went to check it out, it was total chaos. He said there were cars and tractors everywhere, with people filling up bags with potatoes. Apparently, once people realized it was just a rumor, some of them actually brought the potatoes back – can you believe it?

The story quickly became popular on social media, both in Poland and around the world, with many people calling it a scene straight out of a movie heist.

Okay, so Poland’s agriculture minister, Stefan Krajewski, finally admitted something was up with all the protests and stuff. It turns out there’s a ton of extra crops, which is driving prices way down, and honestly, it’s hitting farmers hard. He said his department asked the people who protect consumers to look into whether companies are unfairly manipulating prices – basically, if anyone’s trying to fix the market to make a bigger profit.

Gryta is hoping the people who took his potatoes will return them to avoid him having to take legal steps.

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2025-10-21 19:48