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Farmers Building
up Resistance
A Global
Approach to Agriculture:
The ten principles
of small agricultural production
Principle No 1:
Sharing the production volume in order to allow the majority of
farmers to have access to their profession for a livelihood.
Principle No 2:
Solidarity among farmers throughout Europe and all over the world
Principle No 3:
Respect for the natural environment.
Principle No 4:
Utilisation of the abundant resources and the economic use of
the scarce resources.
Principle No 5:
Transparency over purchase, production, processing and marketing
of agricultural products.
Principle No 6:
Guarantee of good flavour and hygiene of products.
Principle No 7:
Striving for maximum autonomy in agricultural undertakings.
Principle No 8:
Search for partnership with other persons involved in the rural
world.
Principle No 9:
Maintenance of the diversity of reared animals and variety of
cultivated plants.
Principle No 10:
Reasoning globally and in a long-term manner.
(Translation: Current Concerns)
The small town
of Millau in south-west France was the scene last summer of an extraordinary
protest. Responding to America’s hike of import duties on the locally produced
Roquefort cheese, an angry group of local farmers marched to the site of
a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant, then under construction, and dismantled
it. They piled the building on the back of their tractors and drove it through
the town in front of cheering supporters. The protest made front-page news
around the world as the latest indication of burgeoning public concern about
the growth of junk food and the agribusiness it depends on. The protest in
Millau was led by a local sheep farmer, José Bové, who has
emerged as a charismatic and eloquent spokesman for the movement. In this
lively and hard-hitting book, Bové, together with the General Secretary
of the French Farmers Confederation, Francois Dufour, recounts the dramatic
events of the demonstration and Bové’s subsequent imprisonment. They
examine the issues behind the campaign: the industrialization of agriculture
in a global economy, the massive environmental damage this is wreaking, and
the tasteless, unhealthy food that results. Bové and Dufour propose
an alliance of farmers, consumers and ecologists to promote public awareness
of these issues. They launched their campaign to enthusiastic support at
the WTO protests in Seattle last November.
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