The **Union of Land Workers (UTT)** publicly denounced the **closure of their agroecological products warehouse** located at 100 Pellegrini Street, in the city of **Santa Rosa**, La Pampa province.
According to the organization, the intervention was carried out on Monday, July 1st, by inspectors from the **Bromatology area of the Municipality**, based on a **complaint from the provincial government**.
In a statement released by the UTT, the measure was interpreted as **a direct retaliation for recent public denunciations against fumigations with agrochemicals** in areas near urban zones, and as a demonstration of **institutional disinterest in promoting access to healthy and local food**.
Lack of traceability and closure: the official argument
According to the municipal record, the closure would have been due to **irregularities in the traceability of the agroecological products** offered in the warehouse. The UTT, however, questions that **after almost three years of operation without formal objections**, the intervention occurred **coinciding with the reactivation of the debate on the** **provincial laws regulating the use of pesticides**.
The statement points out that **Law 3298 for the Promotion of Agroecological Production** should serve as a framework to support these marketing channels rather than hinder them. It also questions that the municipality **has not promoted local regulations that harmonize with provincial legislation**.
Demands for public policies, credits, and support for producers
The agroecological organization expressed its discontent over what they consider a lack of specific **support policies for peasant production**. They also demanded **credit lines, access to supplies, subsidies, and incentives for direct marketing**.
“They are persecuting us instead of opening dialogue,” they expressed. “The State is attacking healthy food and the families that produce it.” The UTT believes that this institutional action **puts the continuity of small and medium local producers at risk**, and warned of a **”silent extinction” process of agroecological economies**.
Crossed complaints and criticism of territorial policy
The statement also criticizes the recent **approval of a Carrefour chain store branch on lands belonging to the Rural Society**, questioning what they describe as **a contradiction between the progressive discourse and the management decisions of the municipal government**.
The UTT recalls that at the beginning, the current administration had made **agreements with the Popular Cooperative of Electricity (CPE) and with the peasant organization itself**, and denounces a **shift towards alliances with sectors historically concentrated in the agro-industrial model**.
Open debate on food sovereignty and local governance
The case opens a **new chapter in the dispute over the food production model in the region**, exposing **growing tensions between actors from the popular countryside and different levels of the State**.
The UTT urged citizens to **reflect on who produces food, under what conditions, and with what institutional support**, and urged them to **defend direct and territorial marketing channels** as tools to ensure **healthy, accessible, and poison-free food**.
