The spokesperson for the Gard Peasant Confederation recalled the main demands of the second agricultural union, celebrating for the 21st time on October 5 and 6 in Garrigues-Sainte-Eulalie. In office since 2022, the activist representative wants to protect the agricultural sector and comments on the choice of the new French Prime Minister. A familiar face…
Objective Gard : How many members of the Confédération paysanne du Gard are you?
David Marion : We represent, according to the last professional elections dating back 6 years, 20% of farmers, before voting again for the Chambers of Agriculture next January. In Gard, we have around 150 members, and a little more in terms of supporters.
Was this 21st edition of the Gard Peasant Confederation festival a satisfaction?
Yes, it’s a satisfaction, because there were lots of people over the weekend, despite the weather which was not to our advantage. In the market, it sold well. The debate was rich, about food, because we consider that Agriculture concerns us all, not just farmers, since it is our environment. We want to think about agricultural society with all the militant associations.
Why did you choose the theme of food?
We chose this theme because we have not forgotten the crisis and the agricultural mobilization of last winter. Above all, there is a reality: almost 30% of the French population does not eat enough for economic reasons, or eats poorly because access to quality food is not accessible to everyone. Also, 40% of farmers live on less than 500 euros per month. So there is a problem. We have good products, but people don’t have the money to buy them. We organized round tables to express ourselves on two points: how we see agriculture and how it should evolve.
What are your main demands?
We must completely change the agricultural model and the distribution of food. The French agricultural system, of production and distribution, is dominated by agro-industry, by large industry and by the agricultural union of the FNSEA (Editor’s note: National Federation of Agricultural Operators’ Unions). As long as we do not break this system, these farmers will be tied hand and foot with the cooperatives and will continue to lose money. What we need, at the international level, is for France to exit the free trade treaty. Minimum entry prices are required. We are not asking for blank years of social security contributions. We ask that the prices allow us to pay them, that is to say our peasant income and our production costs.
Michel Barnier was appointed as the new Prime Minister of France on September 5. What is your view on this nomination?
Michel Barnier, we know him well, because he was Minister of Agriculture from 2007 to 2009 (Editor’s note: under President Nicolas Sarkozy, exactly two years and four days in office). If my memory serves me correctly, it was he who worked to blow up the milk quotas in 2008. It was catastrophic for the breeders. He is the one who worked to free sheep meat, so we have a lot of fears about the policy that will be pursued. The new Minister of Agriculture who was appointed (Editor’s note: Annie Genevard)his deputy, was responsible for the FNSEA and fully committed to the liberalization of the world market. We met with him to express our vision of things. Now we are waiting for the actions. But we are very worried, we will continue to go straight into the wall.
