In a “stamping operation” on Friday, farmers in eastern France dumped manure outside McDonald’s and Burger King stores in what unions said was a denunciation of their inability to source enough French meat.
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The Haute-Saône Departmental Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FDSEA) denounced in a press release on its Facebook page that livestock farming is “dying out” in this department of the Haute-Saône due to “fast food” gorging.
This action brought together around 150 farmers in Vesoul, the president of the FDSEA of this department of Franche-Comté, Emmanuel Aebischer, told AFP.
This action takes place because the Sainte-Catherine agricultural fair takes place in Vesoul on Saturday. About fifty cattle will be auctioned to be sold to butchers, caterers or the main players in mass distribution in the department.
According to the association, fast food chains import “a massive amount of meat of foreign origin,” about 50%, to make their hamburgers.
And “they are masters at “Frenchizing” hamburgers with unique interventions, especially with the slice of cheese on the steak,” where the AOP Cantal or Gruyère is mentioned, “but forget to mention the origin of the steak.”
“The increase in beef imports highlighted by the FDSEA is not a reality for Burger King France, whose delivery volumes in France are increasing from year to year,” the brand, for its part, told AFP Beef and chicken deliveries from France in 2024”.
In the last quarter of 2023, Burger King France “increased the supply of French meat by 25% compared to the annual average, despite the inflation context,” added the company, which ensures that 100% of its beef is of European origin and half of it is French and 100% % French in the “Masters” series.
McDonald’s France press service did not immediately respond to AFP’s request.
Across France, the FDSEA and young farmers are organizing simultaneous actions in front of the prefectures to demand from the government long-term prospects for their profession in the crisis.
Since the beginning of the week, they have turned traffic signs around in several departments to denounce “upside down” agriculture.