French farmers voice displeasure with militant action

But there are two fundamental differences.

Every self-respecting French man or woman thinks he could be a farmer, and he/she has a grandfather who was a ‘paysan’. This is not a pejorative term.

They also take their holidays somewhere in France’s stunning landscapes of forest, mountain, river, beach or agricultural heartland.

Recently the Paris-based annual Foire d’Agriculture attracted over 600,000 and for four days French media only talked about food, wine, cows and farmers.

Geordie Burnett Stuart The idea that some unaccountable quango (I refer, of course, to the ridiculous Climate Change Committee of the UK) could suggest that a French person should consume 25% less meat and dairy product is both outrageous and preposterous.

Vegetarianism is not a big thing. A non-meat ‘meat’ product has hardly entered the consciousness of a French consumer. Non-dairy ‘milk’ has gathered little consumer interest.

The French are not so subject as us to modern food, diet and lifestyle fashions. Yet where we remain largely indifferent to politics and public life, the French like to remind their rulers that they can never be taken for granted and will regularly rebel.

Nevertheless, French agriculture is both in the spotlight and changing rapidly. Viticulture is struggling. Complacency and high costs in Bordeaux (the largest area of vines) have resulted in 20,000/ha being grubbed up. Aided by the Ministry of course.

Drinking habits are changing and less wine is drunk. Crops like tomatoes that require heat, water and cheap labour are increasingly grown in Spain or Egypt. The French countryside is not immune to threats from eco-zealots and narrow agenda NGOs – be it anti-shooting, anti-meat or anti-something else.

The response from the farming community is more didactic and less polite. The most extreme Greens are referred to as ‘Kymerverts’ – meaning they are as destructive and intransigent as the Cambodian killers of the1990s.

Serious stuff but appreciated by the public who are taught at school about food and the countryside. Many urban schools operate ‘green classes’ where children spend a few days in the deep countryside.

The representative bodies for farmers (they change often and are renewed) are very different to our traditionally polite and supine Unions.

We are learning that tractor demonstrations gather attention but little else.

In France, they are expert at forcing ministers’ hands. The iniquitous IHT attack on farming in the UK would have been quickly withdrawn in France. The last time tractors came towards Paris in late 2024 their planning was brilliant and effective. They blocked the main motorways 30 miles south of Paris, summoned the national media, and made furious speeches from the steps of huge tractors saying NO FOOD would be delivered to the cities. The government backed down on its latest scheme to save money.

It is easier to start farming in France. Electricity and bank loans are cheaper. The variety of soil types, climate, and production systems are greater than in the UK. The Chambres d’agricuture have real influence regionally and a mission to support agriculture.

Local food sourcing and supply is much more developed. French honey producers rarely have less than six or more varieties on sale at local markets with no interfering local official trying to control their activities. Most importantly, they have a firm hand on DG 6 – the EU Agriculture Division.

The UK had four regions when we were in the system. The French had 101 (their Napoleanic Departments) including five overseas, and rules and support could be delivered appropriately.

The French Minister of Agriculture (environment is a separate department) is number four or five in the Cabinet. In the UK, he or she is below 20 in the pecking order. We should be following their example and putting food and farming much higher up the national agenda.