January 25, 2012

We’re fed up! Farms not agribusiness

Large demonstration and rally in Berlin, Saturday January 21, demands changes in agriculture in Germany and beyond.

Snow, rain and chilly temperatures could not dampen the spirits of 23,000 people who, accompanied by tractors decorated floats and musicians, demonstrated in central Berlin for farm–based -- not industrialized -- agriculture, fair and free from genetic manipulation. Organized by "We're fed up!" (Wir haben es satt!), a coalition of 90 agricultural, environmental, animal rights, consumer, and development organizations, it was the largest demonstration yet calling for a change in German government and European Union agricultural policies. These continue to favor large industrial farms, speakers charged, and subsidies for agricultural exports as well as bio-fuels and use of southern agricultural lands for animal feed for the north contribute to world hunger.
See photos here
The latest food quality scandal in Germany helped swell the number of demonstrators, and was the focus of a pre-demo on Jan. 18th: “Chickens before the Chancellery” (photos here) which dramatized revelations that antibiotics are massively used in industrial livestock farming throughout Germany.