“So, are there any single people here?”
» says Karine Le Marchand, looking up at the bridge which overlooks the A4 motorway near Jossigny in Seine-et-Marne.
“Karine minister!
» replied a row of farmers, laughing.
The host of the show “L'amour est dans le pré” on the M 6 channel came to meet the hundred operators who have been blocking this portion of the A4 motorway since Monday, January 29.
She distributed 300 croissants as a symbol of support for their protest movement which has been gaining momentum for weeks.
Around 2 p.m., around 80 farmers moved their agricultural machinery onto the highway to prevent access.
Only the emergency lane remains accessible.
Sandwiches and steaming coffees in hand, they installed bales of straw, cooking equipment and toilets in a cabin in order to establish a camp.
They plan to sleep in their tractor or trailer.
In all, 400 will take turns there 24 hours a day until at least Thursday – the day of the extraordinary European Council.
PODCAST.
Angry farmers: how the crisis took hold
At 3 p.m., Karine Le Marchand, wrapped in a black coat, gives her pastries to the demonstrators.
“On Sunday, people have time to buy croissants for 1.20 euros for their children.
But farmers sometimes have neither the time nor 1.20 euros to offer their own children, she exclaims.
I hope you won't give up because you need concrete answers!
»
“It’s the gentlest social movement I know”
The host shakes hands, flashes smiles before exchanging a few words with the FDSEA union representatives.
She jokes that she is “neither elected nor unionized.
» In a corner, smoke emanates from a huge container.
“Ah, it’s the soup,” she nods.
“I gave my word that if they came to Paris, I would come.
It was important to me.
I even said I would get on the tractor.
I have not done it yet !
she jokes.
They are determined but not aggressive.
This is the gentlest social movement I know.
They know that the French support them.
I don't want to only buy foreign products etc.
I am at their disposal but I am not a farmer so I have to stay in my place.
But if I can help them, I will!
»
Karine Le Marchand spoke at length with farmers in Jossigny (Seine-et-Marne).
LP/Olivier Arandel
She even sits at a table to chat with operators, beers in hand.
Very quickly, the discussion focuses on ecological subjects.
Samuel Vandaele, general secretary of the FDSEA, explains the example of planting hedges: “When a farmer plants one, he is subject to 14 different and sometimes contradictory directives on nesting, etc.
The environmental police are coming to our farms with guns.
But we are not criminals!
So, we don't plant any to avoid that.
» And asking the audience: “Has someone planted a hedge here?
» “No” echoes.
" That's it !
»
" It warms the heart "
Didier, a cereal farmer, says he is “pleasantly surprised by the host’s knowledge of the agricultural world”.
“It warms the heart,” he appreciates.
She's in the media, so if she can be a spokesperson, that's a good thing.
I have been here since 1996, my parents were in the business and my son is taking over.
We can be worried about the future if nothing happens.
»
Karine Le Marchand distributed 300 croissants to the demonstrators.
LP/Olivier Arandel
With her usual frankness, Karine Le Marchand also insisted on the power of consumers.
“Supermarkets don't promote local products enough,” she remarks, before summarizing tersely: “We have to stop buying crap!
»
Benjamin, ex-candidate of season 6 in 2011 and grain and wine grower, remains discreet but follows the host with his gaze.
It is thanks to him that Karine Le Marchand chose this rallying point.
“It can help to grow the movement!”
»
“We keep her informed about our lives.
Yesterday she said to me
Are you going to Paris, can I come?
he reports.
It doesn't surprise me that she came.
Some might think it's overrated but not at all!
It's natural for her.
You can't make
Love in the meadow
for 15 years without having a minimum of desire for this job.
»
The farmers made several references to the famous show presented by the host.
LP/Olivier Arandel
Raphaël, another farmer, appreciates the host's speech.
“We are silent and we use jargon that only we understand,” he notes.
It allows us to put words that are intelligible to as many people as possible.
It can help to grow the movement!
»
Adrien De Rieux, a young farmer from Marles-en-Brie (Seine-et-Marne), says that he will escape from the blockade “just to milk his cows.
» On his tractor, he hung the sign “in the blink of an eye”… “Death is in the meadow”!