As Europe enters a series of key negotiations on the future of CAP and legislation to restore fairness along the food processing chain, one heavyweight player at the table is in a state of flux.
French farmers protest against wolf conservation measures in Lyon. President Macron is offering the industry more protection from unfair trading practices in exchange for more environmentally-friendly practices. \ REUTERS/Robert Pratta
Organic dairy farming on Bruno Pinel's farm in western France: the French government wants 50% of organic, local or sustainably-assured food in school and workplace canteens by 2022.
France, the largest European agricultural power with more than 15% of the EU’s farmland and production, the country that inscribed sitting down for a good meal to the UNSECO world heritage list, is engaged in deep soul-searching about the food it produces, trades and consumes.
When he was elected last spring, President Emmanuel Macron found an industry on the edge, with unprecedented bankruptcy and suicide rates among France’s farming population of half a million. Drought and flood
Successive droughts and floods had decimated the country’s flagship tillage sector, the milk price had crashed, bluetongue and bird flu outbreaks had disrupted the beef and poultry sectors and volatile global prices exposed the French pigmeat industry’s poor competitiveness.
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President Macron’s priority was to channel this malaise into a large-scale public consultation, which unfolded through the second half of last year under the stewardship of Olivier Allain, a Breton beef farmer and member of the ruling political party. The Etats-Généraux de l’Alimentation (which could translate as National Food Conference) was a huge undertaking, with more than 80 public meetings around the country, online debates and 17,000 submissions received. Participants ranged from farmers to processors, retailers, consumer bodies, environmental organisations and ordinary citizens.
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Title: Deep soul-searching among French farmers
As Europe enters a series of key negotiations on the future of CAP and legislation to restore fairness along the food processing chain, one heavyweight player at the table is in a state of flux.
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France, the largest European agricultural power with more than 15% of the EU’s farmland and production, the country that inscribed sitting down for a good meal to the UNSECO world heritage list, is engaged in deep soul-searching about the food it produces, trades and consumes.
When he was elected last spring, President Emmanuel Macron found an industry on the edge, with unprecedented bankruptcy and suicide rates among France’s farming population of half a million. Drought and flood
Successive droughts and floods had decimated the country’s flagship tillage sector, the milk price had crashed, bluetongue and bird flu outbreaks had disrupted the beef and poultry sectors and volatile global prices exposed the French pigmeat industry’s poor competitiveness.
President Macron’s priority was to channel this malaise into a large-scale public consultation, which unfolded through the second half of last year under the stewardship of Olivier Allain, a Breton beef farmer and member of the ruling political party. The Etats-Généraux de l’Alimentation (which could translate as National Food Conference) was a huge undertaking, with more than 80 public meetings around the country, online debates and 17,000 submissions received. Participants ranged from farmers to processors, retailers, consumer bodies, environmental organisations and ordinary citizens.
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