They broke into several supermarkets on Friday. In Rennes, Brest, Avignon and Agen, farmers carried out a coordinated tomato labeling operation. Their objective ? Denounce the “unfair competition” from Moroccan tomatoes “over-represented on the shelves”, according to the demonstrators. Labels stating roughly the origin of the products have been affixed by French producers.
The latter denounce a “situation largely favored by inoperative customs agreements” and by “legislation on information on the origin of fruits and vegetables that is largely insufficient”, in a press release from the organization Légumes de France, a specialized association of FNSEA which piloted the actions.
This operation aimed to “raise consumer awareness and highlight French production”, while the first French tomatoes are arriving on the market, says Nathalie Binda, a farmer from Lot-et-Garonne, who regrets that the origin of cherry tomatoes is “marked in very small letters on the side of the tray”. Jonas Holaar, another tomato producer, mentions the very low cost of Moroccan labor and the use of pesticides banned in France “for more than thirty years”.
It should be noted that the French tomatoes currently on sale are produced in heated greenhouses, which is increasingly contested. Recently, producers denounced the possibility of selling organic tomatoes grown in heated greenhouses. What French law allows, however.