French Winemakers Protest Against the Government and Abstaining Fellow Citizens 0 13

7,000 winemakers and grape growers took to the streets of Béziers yesterday, demanding "swift" action from the government in the face of the crisis.

700 police officers and gendarmes were mobilized that day to maintain order. Authorities anticipated riots and vandalism, deploying special forces units to Béziers and bringing in two "Centaur" vehicles from elsewhere.

There were no riots. The demonstrators marched peacefully through the city streets, trying to draw attention to their problems: foreign competition and large retailers lowering prices, overly strict regulations imposed by the EU, climate change... a decline in wine consumption.

"We are suffocated by regulations. We are drowning in taxes. We are lied to about prices. And while we fight for survival, others export wine at the price of water, selling bottles for the price of a cup of coffee. We are told about food sovereignty, but our politicians sacrifice it for free trade!" said the president of the Young Farmers Association from the neighboring department of Gard.

"Wine is not the enemy of society; it is culture, it is heritage, it is pleasure and an opportunity to share joy at the table," stated the president of the Chamber of Agriculture of the department of Hérault.

The wine crisis has been ongoing in France for several years. When I write about this, my readers are surprised, as many still hold the cliché of wine as a symbol of France. But the old symbols have long lost their value. The French themselves regard grape growers and winemakers without reverence. Moreover, they provoke irritation among the French. They are accused of always being dissatisfied, always asking for something. However, when railway workers ask for something by blocking transport across the country, it does not provoke irritation.

The reasons for this French paradox run deep into the history of the country. The reality is that rural France does not evoke sympathy among the French; they are willing to sacrifice it for the sake of saving the planet from global warming. Wine has been systematically demonized for several decades. And winemakers have been accused of stubbornness and archaism.

Comments from the French on social media about the winemakers' demonstration in Béziers speak for themselves:

"If wine is not sold or sold at insufficient prices, they just need to find another application: forestry, livestock farming, install solar panels, finally! Of course, we can find productive use for this land. In any case, the state should not subsidize activities that bring no benefit."

"The state cannot continue to support everyone at the expense of taxpayers. The wine crisis has been predictable for years; they were not prepared for it. Vineyards have expanded, alcohol consumption is steadily declining, other countries have learned to produce high-quality wine at affordable prices, and wine regions are among the most pesticide-polluted... sooner or later we will have to come to terms with the necessity of producing something else, and differently!"

"These farmers are always dissatisfied. They constantly ask the government for help. They should go into public service."

"Communists are protesting... Competition is too tough... Then they should change their field of activity... They just need to cross the road: there are plenty of other jobs."

"They say they are drowning in expenses and taxes, but continue to ask the government for help... Where does government money come from?"

"Wine serves no special purpose other than poisoning people when winemakers use fungicides in its production, and people drink it!"

"And do you know what kind of help the government provides to grape growers and winemakers? It occasionally allocates money for compensation payments for uprooting vineyards without the right to replant," notes the Telegram channel "Real France."