Document type: open letter from the Confédération paysanne to the French Minister for Agriculture and Food Sovereignty
Authors: Stéphane Galais, Yves-Pierre Malbec, Jean-Jacques Bailly
Preview: Dear Minister, The number of abattoirs continues to decline, having fallen from 400 in 2003 to a current figure of 226. Of these, 30% are public abattoirs providing slaughtering services for clients, primarily farmers, who operate within local supply chains.
This decline in the number of abattoirs has been accompanied by an economic and geographic concentration of the services provided by this essential link in the food chain that has benefited large industrial and private business groups. Over the past two years, the rate of local abattoir closures has increased, with one closing every month!
This pattern can be seen, for example, in the Hautes-Pyrénées Region, where the Bagnères-de-Bigorre abattoir closed last September. [...] Farmers in the region need a strong message to be sent by the government if this part of the system that supports their livelihood is to be preserved: in a mountain region such as this, the disappearance of the abattoir threatens the very existence, not only of livestock farming but of all agricultural activity.
The situation in Bagnères-de-Bigorre is far from an isolated case: the French government is still failing to support projects led by livestock farmers, in particular, in those areas that must now operate without an abattoir, including the Lubéron (mobile abattoir project), Sud Loire-Atlantique / Nord-Vendée (AALVIE project, following the closure of the Challans abattoir), Tarn-et-Garonne (definitive closure of the Montauban abattoir), Gard (project set up following the closure of the Alès abattoir), Haute-Vienne (project responding to the closure of the sheep and pork lines at the Limoges abattoir), and Nord Loire-Atlantique (APPPOC project)...
Other abattoirs that have been shut temporarily are slow to reopen. Examples can be found in Puy-de-Dôme (Ambert), Côtes d'Armor (Quintin), Nièvre (Corbigny) and Alpes-Maritimes (Mercantour). In all these areas, farmers are finding it extremely difficult to get their animals slaughtered. The difficulty is compounded when all or part of what they produce is sold locally. But this is not the only problem: the disappearance of abattoirs is also disrupting long distribution chains that are dependent on local sources to generate added value and hence better remuneration for farmers. In addition, we are aware that other départements could be affected by abattoir closures in the coming months. In the Lot, the Saint-Céré abattoir is operating below capacity and is experiencing major financial difficulties, exacerbated by the pressures of meeting the standards imposed by the veterinary services. Local farmers fear that their slaughter facility will disappear. Similar fears are shared by others elsewhere, for example by those farmers who use the abattoirs in Vannes (Morbihan), Bergerac (Dordogne), Saint-Girons (Ariège), Charlieu (Loire), Quillan (Aude), and Montmorillon (Vienne)... [...] There is a vital need in the world of livestock farming for these local slaughter facilities, which serve as essential links in the networks that add value to the work of farmers and meet society's expectations in terms of animal protection. We are relying on you, Minister, to help farmers win back the use of these support services and regain their dignity, and to help regions reestablish their agricultural vitality by following a variety of different models, rather than having to conform to single model whose limitations have already been exposed.
What we seek from you is the provision of positive and effective support to keep our local farmers in business and our countryside alive, with a view to maintaining the country's food sovereignty.
