The world is not for sale

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, Jose Bove, who has emerged as a charismatic and eloquent spokesman for the movement. In this lively and hard-hitting book Bove, together with the General Secretary of the French Farmers Confederation, Francois Dufour, recounts the dramatic events of the demonstration and Bove'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. Bove 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.