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Comment by celeste vogel-dillon on February 17, 2012 at 11:26

Hi, Guillaume. my favourite is the market held every tues, thurs and Sat in Carcassonne, there are also small ones in the villages around us. We are lucky we have some land , so we grow most of our own vegs. Was thinking of getting a few chickens and a lamb to fatten and slaughter in Nov--- . We also grow a huge amount of our own fruit and nuts ---- But this year because of the severe frost we lost most of the winter veg.

In Ireland there is strong opposition to using pesticides-- so they are going back to the old ways of crop rotation etc. and re planting hedgerows so the eco balance is better. Mainly because we were loosing a lot of our wild life.  Quite a lot of people grow their own vegs now.

Actually there is a growing body of people in the States who grow organic foods and there are a lot of markets and organic shops ---- certainly not Walmart!!!!!!

Funny in the Netherlands last year, there was talk of building high rise breeding pens for pigs and sheep , like apartment blocks 13-14 stories high!!!!! especially because of the lack of farmland and in winter they have to bring the animals in-- I think it was knocked on it's head --- but that could be farming in the future!!!!!!

Comment by Guillaume Barton on February 16, 2012 at 21:37

Hey Celeste,

Love the 'treehugger' article on Ireland!

I have had the fortune to live in alot of Arrondisments in Paris over the years and the thing that blows me away is the EVERY place I've lived has had an DEADLY AWESOME open air market!! You know, they say the world sees the French as being lazy but not these guys!! Whole farming families driving into town week after week. My favorite farmers market is Thursday n Sunday morning in Bastille at Richard Lenoir.

You gotta fav, Celeste? :-D

http://www.parisbastilleapt.com/markets.html

I always have been big on Organic farming. I look at every centieme I spend as a vote against big Agri and vote for the family farmer. I have always been against ingesting pestisides and the cruel factory farming of animals . Always tried to buy Organic. But I am just starting to awaken to the whole evil Montsanto genetic engineering thing. I mean I remember reading in school about the preist in Europe, Mendel I think, who started the whole cross breeding peas thang etc... So I never thought much about GMOs but now I realise what a sick, horrible tyranny it is. Apparently, in the US corn and soybeans are modified to be pestiside specific or 'Round up Ready' and now this systemic pesticide is turning up in the drinking water?! Of COURSE Americans are over weight and full of cancer. The soil is depleted of nutrients and the food and water is filled with poison. Just horrible...

Here is some info on the pesticide "Round Up"
http://corycouillard.blogspot.com/2012/02/is-monsantos-herbicide-ne...

And here is good ol' Willie Nelson leading the charge in another lawsuit against Monsanto! (Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association v. Monsanto) GO WILLIE!!!
http://irritatethestate.net/2012/02/16/willie-nelson-and-300000-oth...

So when it comes to reasons to love the French I say

Vive la ferme biologique

Vive à l'agriculteur

et Vive la France!!!

So glad my daughter here in France knows NO GMOS!!!!!!

Comment by celeste vogel-dillon on February 16, 2012 at 20:06

Ireland has actually banned GM grown foods . In 1997 another American Grain exporter , exported seed grain through Ireland for the European market ---- they MIS_STATED the seed description , saying it was GM free, whereas in fact it was GM seed. This was then exported to countries in the EU. When it was discovered there was a huge furore from the Irish Farmers. After much debate etc , it was decided to Ban all GM foods being grown in Ireland ---- Monsanto sued the Irish Government !!!! they did not win!!!

http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/ireland-says-not-in-this-count...

So there is a precedence  in Europe , unfortunetly Britain went ahead with Gm trials as did other countries ie France!!!!! Spain, Netherlands, Germany etc---- now they are paying the price.

But they also have the problem that most of the big producing countries Brazil, Argentina ,USA etc are using them , they also use Growth Hormones which have now been banned in the EU. They also use vaccines for Foot and Mouth disease --- which are banned by the EU???????

So you are damned if you do and you are damned if you don't!!!!! --- the global economy--- I still cannot understand why we have to import beef , sheep , fish etc form half way around the world??????

That is one reason i like France , I like the idea of seasonal food , similar to Ireland .

Comment by barbara deane on February 16, 2012 at 11:29

My current reason for loving the French.
Contrary and unpreditable.

4 days ago when the ice was still around we took a neighbour/friend shopping.

We had finished our veggie purchases in Grand Frais and got back into the car.

Unfortunately she managed to open the card door just a fraction too close to the

adjacent car....new and shiny and with it's owner sitting inside ....as it

seemed speculating and possibly looking for an opportunity.

Yes opportunity knocked there was a small, very small mark which took

away the 1OO% beauty of the car causing the owner to demand a visit to

the nearby garage.

Nearby garage was a no go zone....he was the smiley man who saved our old

Jeep with a very very crazy price tag. No I said not going there and explained

that we were truely sorry but our friend is not so well and possibly not conentrating.

All true. So there was an exchange of communication details.

The next day there was a call to say that the work was done.

But there will be no charge to any of us.

 

 

Comment by Andrew Hearne on February 15, 2012 at 10:13

"well clarified" in the sense that it's good to have some more background to Monsanto and other cases/products. However I agree about the figures for pesticide as I believe Spain uses far more and some products that have been banned for years but they are still "finishing their stock". France uses a huge amount of pesticide etc but there again has a surface area 2.5 times greater than the UK so obviously uses more of the stuff when you look at per country consumption, not per hectare. The UK has had to tighten so much up after mad cow disease etc that they probably are ahead of the game but the organic movement in France is gathering pace too... ;-)

Comment by Guillaume Barton on February 15, 2012 at 9:55

Uh... @ Aurelie and Andrew, did you leave your reading glasses on the table? lol...

Once again and I quote, 

"It is a historic decision in so far as it is the first time that a [pesticide] maker is found guilty of such a poisoning," Francois Lafforgue, Francois's lawyer, told Reuters.

It's the first time they were found GUILTY!! There are a million cases that are brought to court that never see the light of day but France actually heard a case and past a judgement which is PRECEDENT! Bad man or not EVERY country uses pesticides but France is the only one to hand down  a landmark decision. And please Aurelie I would like you to clarify or provide links if you can to support following statment "French produce, fresh and processed has higher rates of chemical residues than many other countries in Europe." Mercy boo cups

Comment by Andrew Hearne on February 15, 2012 at 8:05

Well clarified Aurélie ;-)

Comment by Aurelie Manissier on February 15, 2012 at 2:00

I think you need to re-read the article. This is the first time that they have been sued in France, not the first time ever. They were first sued in 1976 by Vietnam War veterans for the after effects of Agent Orange. They have been sued and settled multiple times by the US government over poisoning and pollution. More than a quarter of the 220,000 tons of pesticides used in the EU are sprayed on French soil. A reason not to love the french maybe.  The French government has identified 40 cases (so far) of farmers and vignerons whose health has been damaged by pesticide use. Google Yannick Chenet, one of the most high profile cases. France is the bad man of Europe as far as use of pesticides  concerned which is why French produce, fresh and processed has higher rates of chemical residues than many other countries in Europe. 

Comment by Andrew Hearne on February 14, 2012 at 13:30

long hard fight but an excellent result (worried that the power of monsanto will overturn things on appeal though), god knows what my inlaws have been using on their farm for years - they're barking mad, must see about having a go at monsanto for compensation now!

Comment by Marianne Hoch on February 14, 2012 at 12:01

The best News today yet!  Hopefully other countries will take this as an example!