Angry French farmers handed out free fruit and vegetables to all comers in Paris on Wednesday as they called for "food patriotism" to save their livelihoods. The Local went to Place de la République to find out what motivated their protest stunt.
Farmers across France were set to vent their anger at the government on Wednesday in a series of protests including one which saw 100 tonnes of manure and rotten vegetables dumped in the centre of Chartres.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Saturday vowed to prosecute farmers in Brittany who torched tax and insurance buildings and dumped vegetables in the streets in protest at falling living standards.
French farmers are having to lock up everything from their sheep and produce to fuel and tractors as thieves are increasingly targeting the places that produce the ingredients for France’s famous culinary output. It's not the only crime taking place in rural France right now.
UPDATED: A protest by French farmers unions provoked the ire of the government on Thursday after a motorist was killed and six others injured in two separate accidents at road blocks on the outsirts of Paris on Thursday morning. The blocks were lifted at around midday.
A court in eastern France on Wednesday ordered a pig farm to pay damages to a former employee, who judges found had gone deaf because of the constant squeals of the pigs he was in charge of.
Angry French poultry farmers laid down an ultimatum to the government on Tuesday. If the price of eggs does not rise in two weeks, they will resume a rampage that saw them smash 200,000 eggs in a matter of days earlier this month.
France’s minister of agriculture is set for showdown talks with French farmers, angry over the low price of eggs, this week as he attempts to avert a repeat of last week’s egg-smashing rampage that saw half a million destroyed on roads.
A group of protesting French farmers have finally cracked, it seems. After becoming fed-up at low prices the farmers have taken matters into their own hands by smashing thousands of eggs of French roads, and say more will bite the dust.
Paris was turned into a giant animal farm on Sunday as thousands of sheep, cows and pigs marched through the capital accompanied by protesting French farmers who say their livelihoods are now under threat.
Struggling French oyster farmers, whose haul has diminished in recent years, are set to receive some much needed help from their Swedish counterparts, by importing oyster spats from Sweden for the first time.
French pig farmers, up in arms against the influx of foreign pork into France, have taken matters into their own hands this week and set up road blocks to inspect trucks carrying meat. The farmers say they are losing €10,000 per month.
Poland and France will join forces in a bid to increase the EU's farm aid funds, which are already the overall budget's most expensive item, their agriculture ministers said on Friday.
<p>Farmer Paul François is suing US biotech giant Monsanto after he inhaled weedkiller Lasso at work. The trial opens in the French city of Lyon on Monday.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="DE">French foie gras producers and the country’s agricultural minister are incensed that goose liver has been banned from a major food trade fair in Germany. While a diplomatic incident could result, animal rights campaigner Brigitte Bardot, for one, is thrilled. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Veteran farmer, anti-globalization campaigner and Euro MP José Bové has gone on trial in Poitiers for destroying genetically modified maize in 2008. </span></p>
<p>France will have to pay a billion euros in aid to farmers hit by a drought in parts of the country, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Thursday.</p>
<p>One of the world's most influential wine critics is alarmed by the high price of Bordeaux wine, saying the region risks hurting itself by focusing so much on the East Asian market.</p>
