Peasants in Paris

French dairy farmers are upset. They’ve gone on strike to seek higher milk prices.

This being France, there’s not a number in sight. What price do dairy farmers receive for a liter of milk? How has that price changed over time? How does that price compare among other European countries, or with milk producers outside Europe? The data certainly exists, but it’s not discussed in public debate.

Political theater, on the other hand, is often discussed. Striking dairy farmers have a dilemma: what to do with the milk that the cows produce? Some farmers just dump production. Others use milk to irrigate fields.

The Peasant Confederation (Confédération paysanne) had another idea: distribute “the milk of peasants’ wrath” (as their flyer puts it) to Parisians, for free.

The distribution was held today, at noon, at the place de la République. I stopped by. Here’s what I saw:

• A milk truck, with 22,000 liters (5,811 US gallons) of milk;
• A handful of Peasant Confederation people, looking more Parisian than peasant, and sporting t-shirts that read “another world is possible … let’s make it so”;
• A few hundred people eager for milk, pushing and shoving to reach the distribution point;
• No more than 4 police officers;
• At least a hundred media representatives: journalists, photographs, sound recorders, videographers, assorted technical people, also pushing and shoving.
• A political poster, with the slogan “we’re not going to let ourselves be milked any more”, that depicted a globe with teats, being milked by a dairy farmer on a stool, who in turn was being milked by a guy in a suit sitting in a swivel chair, who himself was sitting atop another world, with the likeness of George Washington –from the one dollar bill– at its center.

I didn’t hang around to get free milk. I was put off by the pushing and shoving and overall feeling of pandemonium. And I was put off by Peasant Confederation admonitions: “you must keep the milk chilled, boil it, and consume it within 48 hours.” These instructions show perfectly the tension between the natural goodness of farm-fresh milk and the possible dangers of unpasteurized milk.