A breeder from Brittany, who is a prominent figure in the agro-industrial complex, spoke to journalists about the challenges faced by farmers in the region. The breeder, who requested anonymity, said that many farmers were being sold out by cooperatives and other organizations that claimed to represent their interests. He also talked about the difficulties faced by farmers who are trying to break free from the productivist model. The World interviewed nearly three hundred people, including farmers, civil servants, technicians, cooperative executives, bankers, trade unionists, elected officials, and former ministers to get a better sense of the extent of the crisis. The malaise that many are experiencing is not unique to Brittany, or even to France – agriculture is going through an existential crisis in many countries around the world. However, the disarray seems to be particularly acute in Brittany, where industrial agriculture has been shaping landscapes and communities for more than six decades.
The man is sitting in front of a plate of fish, in a restaurant, somewhere in Brittany. He says : “Don’t use my name!” If there was the shadow of something showing that it was me, I would be in big trouble. In the middle, you have no interest in speaking frankly, because, if we know it’s you, we’ll shoot you. » This breeder, figure of the Breton agro-industrial complex and eminent member of several official bodies, confides in three hours, between indignation and disgust. “You bandit! »he says about a president of a cooperative who, to hear him, would encourage his colleagues, the “grassroots breeders”to sell their animals at the market price, thus exposing themselves to price volatility, while they themselves would benefit from guaranteed prices thanks to a contract « en or » signed with the large distribution.
Our interlocutor also rails against the“enslavement” peasants, become according to him “slaves” firms, cooperatives, banks, sellers of tractors or milking robots and, in general, of a dominant model – productivism – of which Brittany has been a hotbed since the 1960s. hear, these peasants would have been betrayed by some of those, trade unionists or administrators of cooperatives, supposed to represent them.
If this breeder demands anonymity, like many of the witnesses in this investigation, it is because he says he has suffered, in the past, “retaliations” after having “too open [sa] mouth “. He is not the only one to express himself thus. There are, of course, the historical opponents of productivism, leftist elected officials, environmental activists or members of the Confédération paysanne, one of the minority unions. But few are the kingpins of the model in question ready to share their moods.
For two years, The world went to meet them, as well as many Breton players in the agro-industry. Nearly three hundred testimonies – farmers, civil servants, technicians, cooperative executives, bankers, trade unionists, elected officials, former ministers, etc. – were collected. The malaise that many are sharing is not unique to Brittany, or even to France. At a time of globalized competition and environmental perils, agriculture is going through an existential crisis in many countries.
But the disarray seems to be exacerbated in this region, where industrial agriculture and its Siamese sister, the agri-food industry, have been shaping landscapes and souls for six decades; where we produce each year, on a peninsula with 3.3 million inhabitants, enough to feed the equivalent of 22 million people; where the exploitation of soil and animals has given rise to transnational empires and rural baronies, created factories and jobs, fueled silences and engendered dramas.
You have 88.09% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.
The testimonies collected in this investigation reveal a deep-seated malaise within the Breton agro-industrial complex. The dominant productivist model, which has shaped the region for six decades, has been called into question by farmers, civil servants, technicians, and cooperative executives alike. It is a crisis not unique to Brittany, but one exacerbated by the size and scale of the agro-industry in the region. As agriculture faces globalized competition and environmental perils, it is time for a reevaluation of farming practices and a recognition of the human cost of industrial agriculture. The voices heard in this investigation represent a call for change, and it is up to us all to listen and act.