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.

Leading the protest in Millau was 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, François 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.

“The peasant leader regarded as a hero in the battle to save France from fast food and free trade is bringing his revolt across the Channel.” – Sunday Times

“Today, millions are now asking the same question as José Bové: who gets to make decisions about the quality and integrity of the food we eat – citizens, or faceless international trade institutions?” – Naomi Klein

“The farmer who became something of a national hero last year for leading an attack on a McDonald’s restaurant was convicted of criminal vandalism today and sentenced to three months in prison . . . [José] Bové’s attack on the American fast-food giant has tapped into a deep well of public discontent and a feeling of powerlessness on subjects ranging from genetically modified foods to the power of the American economy.” — The New York Times, September 14, 2000

José Bové farms in the Aveyron, France. François Dufour is a farmer in Normandy and is General Secretary of the French Farmers Confederation.
Publication
Cloth: June 2001
Paper: June 2002

240 pages

Cloth
1 85984 614 9
£16 / US$25 / CAN$36

Paper
1 85984 405 7
£10 / US$16 / CAN$24