With capitalism, the predatory model of agribusiness has been dominant in Brittany since the mid-20th century, to the detriment of agricultural cooperatives and farming itself. While voices are being raised in Lorient, repression, as always, is being unleashed on those who denounce the exploitative conditions of the land and the workers. On December 15, 2025, in Lorient, the trial of 12 people arrested in March 2022 following an act of civil disobedience targeting agribusiness, claimed by the Brittany Against Factory Farms collective, took place. The debates during the hearing and the mobilizations have brought the role of this inequitable system back into sharp focus.
In the 19th century, during the rapid expansion of industrial capitalism, regional specialization of agricultural production was implemented to supply the proletariat that was congregating in and around large cities, particularly Paris. Agricultural areas closest to the capital experienced rapid development, such as Normandy and the Beauce region. More distant regions, like Brittany, had more limited access to national markets. The mixed crop-livestock farming model prevalent at the time, which was environmentally friendly, was generally maintained in Brittany until the 1950s to 1970s, depending on the area, while rural exodus was at its peak. The use of chemical fertilizers, which appeared in the 1920s, was limited due to its cost.
France is the third largest pork producer in Europe, with approximately 9,500 farms raising more than 300 pigs (99% of French production). The Brittany region accounts for 57% of the country's pork production.
France is the third largest pork producer in Europe, with approximately 9,500 farms raising more than 300 pigs (99% of French production). The Brittany region accounts for 57% of the country's pork production.
Credits: Vannes Museum of Fine Arts
After the Second World War, the Marshall Plan released funds to develop mechanization and the use of chemical inputs in order to increase agricultural productivity. In Brittany, a land of hedgerows and rolling hills, the introduction of these innovations was particularly hampered by the size of the fields and farms. This period also saw land consolidation, the merging of land accompanied by the destruction of hedgerows and embankments. It was later and more abrupt than elsewhere, and, like mechanization, contributed to the disappearance of smaller, less competitive farms and to the overall expansion of farms. This movement was accompanied by recruitment in factories on the outskirts of cities, such as Rennes, and the resale of land subdivided for consolidation in exchange for a promise of job and income security from employers.
From agricultural cooperatives to integrated farming: Farmers were active participants in these changes, either through their resistance to the advent of this new model (resistance sometimes tinged with reactionary ideas), or by organizing themselves into cooperatives to jointly purchase equipment and inputs, and to collect and sell their produce. Cooperatives were created and developed in conjunction with agricultural unions and, in the case of the largest, have become multinational agribusinesses. In Brittany, this led to the development of intensive pig and poultry farming. This marked the beginning of integrated agriculture, where all inputs are supplied by the cooperative, which obtains the necessary loans from banks and also purchases the produce. Farmers who adopt this model consequently experience a significant loss of autonomy, both in terms of production choices and methods, and in setting prices. Driven by the substantial investments required to remain competitive in an increasingly globalized market, cooperatives are becoming increasingly financialized and merging, losing all democratic character to leaders with one foot in agriculture and the other in the agribusiness industry. From this process emerged the Breton agribusiness giants Eureden and Cooperl.
To maintain competitiveness on international markets, in the face of heavily subsidized agriculture in the United States, aid programs were established at the European level through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) starting in 1962. Initially guaranteeing minimum prices for agricultural products, the CAP has since 1992 evolved towards subsidies paid according to the number of hectares, thus favoring the largest farms. This situation persists and is intensifying, promoting ever-larger farms and consolidating power through land grabbing by a few. Brittany is currently the region of France with the highest number of factory farms, according to a 2023 study[1].
A destructive model preserved by capitalism
The harmful consequences of the agro-industrial development model are clearly visible and now documented worldwide. Brittany is no exception: green tides and the suffocation of waterways linked to nitrates from concentrated livestock farming, particularly pig farming; the impact of pesticide pollution on biodiversity and human health; soil erosion due to the enlargement of fields and mechanization; the emergence of zoonoses (diseases transmitted between animals and humans); the concentration of wealth in the hands of a minority driven by productivism and increased dependence on the financial sector... While this issue is beginning to gain visibility locally, particularly following the green algae scandal, collective reactions remain weakened by the opacity and entrenchment of this system, as well as by the powerful lobbying of agribusiness with the government.
Paradoxically, the first warnings, which emerged as early as the 1970s, were often raised by groups historically not very involved in radical ecological practices. One example is the creation of the association Eau et rivières de Bretagne (Water and Rivers of Brittany), which began as a fishing association observing the disappearance of salmon in certain waterways. It gradually transformed into a citizens' association attempting to lobby for the preservation of water resources in the region and participates more broadly in environmental mobilizations. Another important environmental association is Bretagne vivante (Living Brittany), successor to the Société pour l'étude et la protection de la nature en Bretagne (Society for the Study and Protection of Nature in Brittany), founded in 1959. More recently, in 2020, the Morbihan collective against factory farms was created, unique in that it also includes local farmers and residents mobilized against intensive livestock farming projects.
Resist to denounce!
This group claimed responsibility for the March 2022 action, during which around fifty activists blocked a grain convoy bound for an animal feed factory run by the Le Gouessant cooperative, believing they were targeting the Sanders group. Once the convoy was blocked, the grain was dumped onto the tracks, a wall was built across the rails, and a banner was hung with the message, "Agribusiness is leading us straight into a wall." This act of civil disobedience, symbolic in nature, triggered a strong and immediate crackdown. Searches, bans on demonstrations, and placement under judicial supervision were all part of the response. While the Le Gouessant cooperative and the SNCF, which manages the railway line, unsurprisingly joined the case as civil parties, the National Federation of Farmers' Unions (FNSEA), a reactionary, co-managing agricultural union, also participated in the trial. Indeed, their support for agribusiness has existed for over 70 years, its members being directly responsible for the numerous cooperatives that have become profitable multinationals serving intensive agriculture. FNSEA executives, under the guise of supporting farmers' work, are orchestrating their impoverishment and their dependence on the subsidiaries they manage, all in the pursuit of ever-increasing profits. It is also interesting to note that the regional branch of this union described the event as a "scandalous action" and "against the public interest," while the FNSEA regularly organizes actions that cause far more material damage, as was pointed out during the trial. Their vision of a justice system with double standards clearly illustrates their desire to silence any act of resistance against an agricultural system they manage and which benefits only them.
Although the harmful effects of agribusiness are widely known and acknowledged, it is environmental activists who are being targeted by the justice system.
Although the harmful effects of agribusiness are widely known and acknowledged, it is environmental activists who are being targeted by the justice system.
Credits: UCL Lorient
The trial held in Lorient therefore carries significant symbolic importance, having placed at the heart of the debates throughout the closing arguments not the individual responsibility of the accused, but rather that of agribusiness. Of the twelve defendants, seven received convictions and were fined nearly EUR200,000 in collective penalties, while five were acquitted. Faced with the ecological emergency, let us give them the necessary support to denounce this predatory system of resource exploitation that only benefits capitalists! Brittany Against Factory Farms is organizing a fundraiser to finance legal fees: find out more on their website![2]
Florence and Eric (UCL Lorient)
Submit
[1]See the 2023 Greenpeace study based on figures from the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
[2]https://bretagne-contre-les-fermes-usines.fr/collecte-de-fonds-pour-gagner-en-justice-face-a-letat-et-ses-complices/
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Agriculture-Inverser-la-culpabilite-faire-le-proces-de-l-agro-industrie
_________________________________________
Link: (en) France, UCL AL #369 - Ecology - Agriculture: Reversing the Blame, Putting Agribusiness on Trial (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]
Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten