When you read the headline 'Belgians urged to eat more fries' you may think it's a joke, but in Belgium, it was a serious request.

当你看到标题“比利时人被要求多吃薯条”，你或许会认为这是个打趣，但在比利时，这是一个仔细的恳求。

The country's potato industry has been hit hard by COVID-19. When the virus began shutting down Italy, Spain and eventually Belgium, the crisis was in full swing, according to Romain Cools, the Secretary-General of Belgapom, which oversees Belgium's potato trade and processing industry.

比利时的马铃薯工业遭到了新冠疫情的激烈冲击。比利时马铃薯交易和加工职业监管组织Belgapom的秘书长罗曼·库尔斯称，一开端病毒令意大利、西班牙采纳封闭方法，最终比利时也进入封闭状况，导致马铃薯工业呈现全面危机。

He tells ABC News' "Perspective Podcast" the country has a giant surplus of potatoes, caused by the shutdown of the food service sector since about 70% of the potatoes in Belgium are consumed out of the home.

库尔斯告知美国广播公司新闻部视角播客栏目说，食物服务部门歇业导致比利时的马铃薯产值严峻过剩，由于该国约70%的马铃薯出口国外。

"We are talking about 750,000 tons of potatoes in Belgium alone, which is about 30,000 trucks full of potatoes in a row. These potatoes, they have no market, they have no consumption," said Cools.

库尔斯说：“光是在比利时，就有75万吨马铃薯，能够装满约3万辆货车。这些马铃薯没有商场，也没有人购买。”

In his more than 30 years in the industry, Cools has never seen a surplus like this one and he is worried it might affect future seasons, including one that will start in a few weeks.

在他从业三十多年的时间里，库尔斯从未见过如此严峻的马铃薯过剩。他忧虑这或许会影响未来的马铃薯出产季，包含几周后行将开端的下一个马铃薯出产季。

"We are finding solutions to prolong the potato season till August, so people who can store potatoes till August, they will store them. Of course, that will affect next season. The question is, will there be enough place to process these potatoes? And how will that also affect the crop of next year?" Cools said.

库尔斯说：“咱们在寻觅将马铃薯季延长到八月的方法，这样有才能把马铃薯贮存到八月份的人们就会贮存马铃薯。当然，这会影响下一个马铃薯季。问题是，是否会有满足的当地来加工这些马铃薯？又会对下一年的马铃薯发生什么影响？”

He has been thinking of ways to increase the consumption of potatoes, one of the main staples of Belgian food, including eating more fries.

他正在思索添加马铃薯消费量的方法，包含让人们吃更多薯条。马铃薯是比利时的主食之一。

The idea came to him after a Belgian journalist asked what Belgians can do to help out.

一位比利时记者问他比利时人能够协助做些什么时，他便发生了这一主意。

"I just said from the heart, 'you could help us by just buying, and eating, extra time frozen potato products during the coronavirus crisis,'" said Cools.

库尔斯说：“我发自内心地说：‘你们只要在疫情危机期间买和吃加时冷冻马铃薯产品就能够帮到咱们’。”

He says the request is serious due to the impact shutdowns are having on his industry.

他说，这是一个仔细的恳求，由于封闭对马铃薯工业的影响真的很大。

"We are not only facing problems for our potato growers, but also our processing industry. They are processing these potatoes, which they promised to take from the farmers, but they have a lack of freezing capacity at this moment," said Cools.

库尔斯说：“不仅是咱们的马铃薯种植者面对问题，咱们的加工工业也面对问题。他们正在加工这些许诺从农人手中收买的马铃薯，但他们现在的冷冻才能不够了。”

Cools is worried farmers and processors may have to throw away potatoes, but he says they may be able to avoid that scenario with the help of Too Good to Go, an app that sells unsold food that would have become waste.

库尔斯忧虑农人和加工商或许得把（剩余的）马铃薯丢掉，但他表明在Too Good to Go使用的协助下，他们或许能防止这一局面。该使用出售本来或许被糟蹋掉的滞销食物。

"At this moment, we are really working on a campaign with the supermarkets in Belgium to ask consumers to buy extra time frozen potato products," Cools said.

库尔斯说：“现在咱们正在与比利时的超市协作建议一场宣扬活动，恳求顾客购买加时冷冻马铃薯产品。”

He's also working with the government of the Flemish region of Belgium to give potatoes that would have gone to waste to food banks across the country.

他还和比利时佛兰德区的政府协作，把本来或许会被糟蹋掉的马铃薯送给世界各地的食物银行。