Visitors stroll on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris. The road has been turned into a huge farm with plots of plants, trees and flowers laid out on Paris' most famous avenue to focus attention on France's crisis-hit agriculture. (AFP/Fred Dufour)
Posted on 05/23/2010 1:23:54 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
PARIS (AFP) – French farmers turned the Champs Elysees into a vast farm covered with plants, trees, flowers and livestock on Sunday to draw attention to the crisis hitting the country's agricultural sector.
Dubbed Nature Capital, over a stretch of 1.2 kilometres (0.8 miles) from the Arc de Triomphe halfway to the Place de la Concorde, more than one hundred varieties of grain, fruit and vegetables dotted Paris' most famous avenue.
Cows, pigs, goats and lambs were also out on the Champs, but in small numbers with a view to showcasing some of the famous breeds such as the enormously fat black-bottomed Limousin pigs, prized for their meat quality.
The event drew 800,000 people on its first day Sunday, according to police. Organisers, the Young Farmers association and the French forest industry, hope to draw a total of two million people.
"We are not there to complain about our situation, but rather to show off our work," said William Villeneuve, head of the young farmers' association.
He hopes strollers on the Champs Elysees will think about "what is on their plates and become more active consumers."
French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire praised Nature Capital for showcasing the diversity of French agriculture.
"I hope this becomes the symbol of our conception of agriculture," he said.
French farmers are already a diminishing breed but one of the worst crises in decades, fuelled by falling prices and rocketing production costs, has further hurt the sector.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's government has offered an aid plan for French farmers with some 1.8 billion euros in loans (2.3 billion dollars) and 650 million euros in other support payments.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
When you have no farmers, how can you sustain your land and your people?
Visitors stroll on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris. The road has been turned into a huge farm with plots of plants, trees and flowers laid out on Paris' most famous avenue to focus attention on France's crisis-hit agriculture. (AFP/Fred Dufour)
Ping.
French oyster farmers stand next to a burning boat with oyster shells in Paris May 5, 2010 during a protest to bring attention to the difficulties of the profession and baby oysters' high rate of mortality. The placards read, "Sarkozy, save oyster farmers" and "The oysters die and we dig our own graves". REUTERS/Benoit Tessier (FRANCE - Tags: AGRICULTURE FOOD CIVIL UNREST BUSINESS)
About 200 trucks rolled onto the Champs Elysees late Saturday to unload the trees, plants and topsoil and part of the avenue has been closed to traffic. The road was turned into a huge farm with plots of plants, trees and flowers laid out on Paris' most famous avenue to focus attention on France's crisis-hit agriculture. (AFP/Miguel Medina)
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