"We are sick of it!": 33,000 protesters call for new agricultural policy

Photo © Fabian Melber (www.wir-haben-es-satt.de)

With a deafening cooking pot concert at the We are fed up! -Demonstration 33,000 people called up the future German federal government for a new agricultural policy at the beginning of the Green Week in Berlin. They demanded respect for human rights, fair trading conditions and more support for the rural population worldwide. "Food is political! More and more people are realizing it. But politics nourishes an agricultural industry and lets it produce at the expense of the environment, climate and animals. So that we all do not pay the bill for it in the long term, the "GroKo" (future German federal government) now has to turn the tables. Those who produce and eat sustainably must be rewarded," said "We are sick of it!" spokesman Jochen Fritz. "The industrial agriculture and food industry causes local and global problems for farmers, climate, animals and the environment", said Fritz on behalf of more than 100 organizations that had called for tthe demonstration. He added: "The conversion to an environmentally, animal and climate friendly agriculture, in which farmers can live well from their work, can not be deferred by politics. "

Photo © Fabian Melber (www.wir-haben-es-satt.de)

160 farmers led the demonstration with their tractors. They had given a protest note in advance to the 70 assembled ministers of the "Agriminister Conference" from all over the world. Martin Schulz, chairman of the working group on rural agriculture, said: "Many farmers have long since set out and are changing agriculture day by day. Unfortunately, without the support of politics. We farmers now need a sustainable policy that makes reliable decisions and solves problems. The stagnation of the old GroKo has led to a split between agriculture and society. We have to get out of there. "

"We are sick of it!" protester ask for "projects to be implemented by the Federal Government in the next legislative period:

     Glyphosate exit     Rebuilding the animal stables     Labeling of animal foods     Ban on reserve antibiotics in animal husbandry     fair market rules for the protection of farms     End of payment of EU agricultural subsidies to non-agricultural investors

The mass demonstration was directed against the agricultural industry, not against farmers. In the eighth year, the conventional and eco-farmers demonstrated in solidarity with food artisans and civil society against the fatal effects of intensive industrial agriculture.

 Photo © Alexander Puell (www.wir-haben-es-satt.de)