Europe: the anger of farmers

By Houmi Ahamed-Mikidache

Farmers in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Spain and Germany are currently protesting against the implementation of the Green Deal for Europe, a package of measures to set the EU on the path of ecological transition. For these farmers, these measures are unfair and put their economic interests at a disadvantage. Actions are taking place in particular with tractor convoys blocking several road crossings.

“A good part of this anger is justified”, according to Yannick Jadot, deputy Europe Ecology-the Greens of Paris, intervened Saturday morning on French radio, France Info. He continued: “We are in a totally crazy agricultural world: we have 27 farms that disappear every day, a third of farmers who live below the poverty line and two suicides a day”.

Wir haben es Satt!

In Berlin, Germany, more than 50 farmers’ organizations protest this Saturday to express their discontent. Their watchwords is Wir haben es Satt! (We have enough!). ” We want a just and inclusive transition for all, including farmers”, claims the international Slow Food movement in a statement received by Era Environment. Slow Food is an international activist organization fighting against poor nutrition.

The German demonstration joins that of French and European farmers in general. Slow Food says it does not want to pit agriculture against the environment. But they underline that farmers are in arrears. “More than 80% of Europe’s natural habitats are degraded, and some crops are already seeing their yields drop due to soil poverty, lack of water and extreme weather events,” said Marta Messa, Secretary General of Slow Food. For Jadot, farmers must be accompanied. “When there is no more water for individual consumption, when there is no more water for nature, having maize in areas where there is no longer a fleet, it cannot hold,’ he explains on France Info.

“We must continue to promote a just and inclusive transition”

Speaking on the approach of the European Parliament elections, the Secretary General of Slow Food indicates that eight European countries will have national elections this year. “We must continue to promote a just and inclusive transition, denouncing the attempts of some political groups to steer our societies towards far-right measures that distance us from good, clean and equitable food for all”.

For the leader of the movement in Germany, Nina Wolf, there is a political recovery of their demands. We want to denounce the instrumentalization of the demonstrations by far-right groups who claim to represent farmers and aim to rally votes before the 2024 European elections, This overshadows the important public debate on the vital transition of our food systems,” explains Wolff, who is also a member of the Board of Directors of Slow Food International.