At the call of several unions, farmers demonstrated throughout France Tuesday, October 8, 2019. Tired of the "disrepute" of the profession, disconcerted by the proliferation of aggression and facing economic difficulties, farmers shouted their distress to the government this Tuesday.
"We do not want to annoy the motorists, just shout our distress" . On roundabouts and the Toulouse ring road, dozens of farmers held Tuesday, October 8, dams filtering to denounce a "agribashing" growing according to them.
Lively music, barbecue sausages, beers and summer temperatures ... The atmosphere is good-natured, but the bitterness is tangible on this day of national mobilization, led, under the slogan, "France, do you still want your peasants? By the majority union FNSEA and Young farmers.
A warning
"Today, this is not a total block, we are there to issue a warning and show the state that we can build in the coming days , " says Christian Mazas, president of the FDSEA 31 , present in the early morning on a roundabout south of Toulouse.
The reason for their anger? The feeling of discrepancy between, on the one hand, the "draconian" standards imposed on French farmers, and on the other the trade agreements signed with countries that do not "play with the same rules" . The proposed adoption of pesticide non-treatment areas was too much of a drain. "All these lost surfaces will have to be offset by the import," annoyed Elodie Doumeng, Secretary General of Young Farmers of Haute-Garonne.
"Stigmatized"
"It is inadmissible, we are leaving shit to enter our plates while making believe that we are polluters," also takes Luc Mesbah, Deputy Secretary General FDSEA 31.
But what mobilizes especially is the impression of being "stigmatized". "How do you want young people to be encouraged to do this job when we are being insulted every day by our fields? When every day do NGOs attack our farms? " , Deplores Christian Mazas. He considers "urgent to restore communication with residents and consumers" . "It's been 22 years that I'm in the business and I've never seen that," echoes Luc Mesbah, saying not understand the reasons for the disenchantment of the French to their farmers.
Around noon, the various groups gathered on the roundabouts converge with their tractors on the Toulouse ring road, pouring straw, manure and tires on the road, but making sure to leave a passage to motorists. "People are becoming more aware of their diet, they are afraid of their health, and that's great , " says Elodie Doumeng, a 29-year-old sheep farmer and "proud to be the seventh generation" farmers in his family.
"Trust us"
But "we have the impression that people do not know our job anymore. We are also sensitive to biodiversity, we understand that the abuse of certain practices in the past was not necessarily good for the soil, plants and our health . It highlights the desire of the new generation of farmers to develop an "other agriculture" . "But at some point, people will have to trust us, we need recognition! She says.
Further on, Christophe Campourcy, a 52-year-old grain farmer, stands by the grilled smokers, a beer in his hand. "I do organic, by conviction, but not everyone has the capabilities and I fully recognize the distress of my colleagues who demonstrate today," he says. "We feel that people do not support us anymore," he said in awe. "We move equipment in the countryside and we are attacked, we reap and we make us understand that we disturb . " "I do not understand ... It's a great job, we make this country eat anyway , " he says .
Share this article
"We are eating this country anyway! »: The distress cry of the farmersOuest-France.frENLARGE
