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They were a hundred gathered in front of theFerrero factory in Villers-Écalles near Barentin (Seine-Maritime) Tuesday, November 27, 2018. Union farmers at the Rural Coordination (CR), from all over France, came to demonstrate against the importation of palm oil and the use of local oils as a substitute in industrial recipes.
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"Deforestation, orang-utans remember it"
"We are forced to very strict environmental rules, but for everything we import, it's open bar", Regrets Éric Lavoine, a farmer living near Abbeville. Like his colleagues at his side, he wears a yellow vest, but nothing to do with the social movement currently in progress. "This is the color of our union," explains Normand Curator Sophie Curtil. It has become fashionable lately. "
After carrying out actions in the ports of Lorient and Saint-Nazaire against the importation of Soy GMOs, the farmers symbolically chose to protest in front of the factory producing 25% of the world's production. Nutella. Through this product firmly anchored in the minds of consumers, they want to send a message to the industrial world and the government. The national president, Bernard Lannes, states:
Sustainable palm oil is making fun of the world. Deforestation, orangutans remember it. We can provide the necessary fat with French rapeseed oil for example. This would allow us to diversify crop rotation and provide income for farmers.
Farmers hope to revalue the price of rapeseed, "330 € per tonne on leaving the farm when it would take 400 € to make it bearable," says Sylvain de Bosschere, president of the section seinomarine.
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Need for industrialists to live
To hear the protesters, it is urgent to act. "I'm retired recently, but these last three years, I lost 20 000 € per year," says Philippe Allaire, vice president in Loiret. Pbaded by the breeding or the market gardening, he ended his career in field crops. Today he wants to fight for future generations, but also for "food security".
Frederic produces cereals for Bourges. He reserves 800 € per month to live. He has cut off his heating, never takes a vacation and does not see his family, because it costs him too much.
For him, using local oil will have a real environmental impact. "This will reduce transportation, deforestation and will not require us to specialize in monoculture, which destroys the earth, to survive. Faced with the "romantic" image of the responsible farmer, who "produces, processes and sells at home", he has a more nuanced vision:
I produce, for example, 500 tonnes of wheat and 80 tonnes of rapeseed. It's not on the Saturday and Sunday market that I'm going to sell everything. We need manufacturers, but they must pay us at our fair value. The whole society will be winning. We will have more means to maintain our lands.
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A new meeting at Ferrero in January
A small delegation is finally received within the company, while the rest of the farmers do the crane foot in front of the grid, goblet and sandwich in the hand. After a discussion, the report is clear: there will be no rapeseed oil in Nutella pots.
The communication service insists on the "100% sustainable and traceable nature of its palm oil" and its label Roundtable on sustainable palm oil (RSPO); label that has not been enough to stop the destruction of tropical forests, according to environmental protection organization Greenpeace. The company indicates:
We have chosen to maintain the use of this ingredient in our recipes for reasons related to the intrinsic qualities of palm oil. The latter is solid at room temperature and keeps all the creaminess and quality of products.
Palm oil at Ferrero
According to figures provided by the company, Ferrero uses 203,000 tonnes of palm oil a year, or just under 0.3% of global palm oil production. This palm oil comes mainly from Malaysia (80.9% of total volumes), Indonesia (10.6%), Costa Rica (5.2%) from Papua New Guinea (3%), and more. Colombia (less than 1%).
In the absence of being able to obtain the use of rapeseed, the members of the CR asked the company to provide French farmers with sugar, flour or hazelnuts. "They promised a new meeting with the unions in January in Paris," says Sylvain Bosschere. With its action, the union also hopes to reach the government, while the law resulting from the Estates General of Food, for food security and balance of commercial relations in the agricultural sector, has just been promulgated.
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