On Sunday June 11th, 2023, activists from the collective Soulèvements de la Terre targeted a farm to the south of Nantes, as well as several experimental plots on the site of the Federation of Nantes Producers, destroying irrigation systems and lettuce plants.
The collective claims to be fighting “against extractivism and concrete, against industrial productions and for the defense of the bocage and peasant agriculture.”
“Stupidity, ignorance and ridiculousness: the facilities destroyed at the Federation of Nantes Producers was home to 3,000 m² of agroecology experiments on crop solutions as a palliative to pesticide use. An agroecological trial is not legitimate in their eyes,” according to Sylvestre Bertucelli, general manager of Légumes de France. As for the damage, it amounts to tens of thousands of euros. “The trials in progress concerned vegetable crops, so it will take several months to restore them. For the lily of the valley plots, it will take several years.”
Régis Chevallier, president of the Federation of Nantes producers, reacted on Twitter:
Today, I am in tears. They have destroyed our experimental greenhouses using living soil and pesticide-free cultivation. With impunity… pic.twitter.com/rIIVF9XG7g
— regis chevallier (@RegisMaraicher) June 11th, 2023
Légumes de France “fully supports the producers who were attacked, and joins the Federation of Nantes Producers in filing a complaint by becoming a civil party.” Légumes de France has sent a request for the “immediate” dissolution of the collective to French Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau and French Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.
💥 SECOND ACTION carried out on the experimental site of the Federation of Nantes Producers bringing together the main producers of the area who aim to find ways to improve salad productivity. pic.twitter.com/S0xCHH1dKA
— Les Soulèvements de la Terre (@lessoulevements) June 11th, 2023
The collective Sauvons les fruits et légumes de France has launched a petition on Change.org and sent an open letter to Gérald Darmanin demanding the dissolution of the collective Soulèvement de la terre, as well as “a real policy to dissuade ransacking on farms.”
Stop the ransacking by @lessoulevements de la terre ! Sign our open letter to @GDarmanin to stop the destruction of our farms. https://t.co/DXB2RCOQa6
— CSFL (@csfldefrance) June 13th, 2023