URGENT request for support of French Farmers

Hal Hamilton (hhamilton@centerss.org)
Wed, 1 Sep 1999 09:42:34 -0400

I have been asked by French friends to organize, today, a real and symbolic
show of US support for the French farmers who have been jailed for
protesting the confiscatory US tarrifs that were imposed in a trade war over
the EU's ban on beef raised with hormones. The original 5 French farmers
arrested face bail and penalties of about $17,500 apiece. I am personally
pledging $200. Please, if you are willing to contribute, let me know today,
Wednesday, before midnight, how much. I will let you know where and how to
send your contribution. It may be partially or wholly returned if not
needed, but don't count on it. Please also let me know if you are willing
for your name and/or organization to be used in a press conference in France
tomorrow or Friday.

This is personal for me. My wife and I helped one of the farmers, Jose
Bove, milk his 250 sheep last summer. Their milk goes to make Roquefort
cheese, one of the commodities upon which the US government is slapping a
huge tarrif. These farmers work in a high rocky region that is really only
suitable for grazing sheep. They work hard and make a very high quality
product. Up until the early 1980s Jose and his neighbors in the Larzac
waged a struggle against the French army, which announced in 1971 that they
were seizing the land for a nuclear base. The farmers eventually won the
fight, and the social cohesion that resulted from those years of up-hill
movement-building has yielded local leadership that is now willing to take
on Novartis, Monsanto and the US government over the adulteration and
homogenization of food and culture. In my opinion, they are global leaders
and not just French leaders.

Our US voice in support will make a difference, in the media, in our own
hearts, and to our colleagues in Europe. Even very small gifts will make a
large impact.

Hal Hamilton
Center for Sustainable Systems
433 Chestnut St., Berea KY 40403 USA
Phone: (606) 986-5336; Fax: (606) 986-1299
hhamilton@centerss.org

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